Roger Sanderson asks if any Meetings have had experience of a heat recovery unit in their ventilation system?
'Our architect is very environmentally minded and has come up with the proposal to install a heat exchanger in the new roof, to transfer the warmth from outgoing air to incoming fresh air,' says Roger.

The Friends are cautious however, not wishing to repeat the apostle’s experience. Eye reminds you - 'And suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.'
To avoid this acoustical disaster, Roger went along to the Interbuild 2006 exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham, to check out heat recovery units and find a quiet Quakerly one. He thinks, however, the best test would be to visit a Meeting house where one is operating.

He appears to have found what he wanted. He asked the salesman to switch the model on so that he could hear how much noise it emitted. 'It is on' was the reply.

We're glad his Meeting will be properly ventilated from now on. During all this consumer research Roger has become quite knowledgeable about fresh air in meetings. Since new building regulations in force last month mean that houses will be airtight, Roger worries that we will all be starved of oxygen and breathing in too much carbon dioxide. In Meetings we tend only to open windows on very hot days.

A little paranoia is creeping into Roger's voice: 'A medical symptom of high carbon dioxide content in the air is anxiety – even panic,' he tells us. 'Would these symptoms affect behaviour and decisions towards the end of business Meetings?' Possibly. Our ancestors of course braved draughts of gale-like intensity and had the opposite problem. Their answer was long johns.