Towards a New Generation of Smart, Sustainable, and Silent Fans

Industrial fans are vital components across a wide range of sectors — including manufacturing, energy, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning, electric cars, and data centers—where they support critical functions such as ventilation, cooling, and air quality control. As industries move toward smarter, more sustainable operations, the evolution of fan technology is increasingly shaped by the principles of Industry 5.0. The future of industrial fans lies in the development of intelligent, high-efficiency systems that incorporate real-time monitoring, predictive maintenance, and adaptive control through internet of things, artificial intelligence, big data, and human-machine collaboration. These smart fan systems promise significant energy savings and improved operational reliability, aligning with new environmental regulations, such as the EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation. However, the transition presents several challenges. Integrating advanced materials, such as composites or 3D-printed components, must overcome cost and durability barriers. The combination of new, next generation fans with already existing systems also poses technical and economic difficulties. Noise reduction, particularly in densely populated or indoor industrial environments, remains a persistent concern, including psychoacoustics which emphasizes the human perception of the generated noise. The COST action aims to gather the knowledge and expertise from various fields in order to achieve the common goal of creating the next future generation of fans. Interdisciplinary collaboration across engineering, data science, and sustainability domains will be essential. Future innovations will be increasingly co-designed by humans and AI, emphasizing customization, safety, and environmental impact.