November 9th 2020 World News goes into Overdrive
Slightly Premature?
I don’t know about anyone else, but I never rated “The New Normal” so wouldn’t it be fantastic if “The Old Normal” is on the horizon?
It was announced Monday 9th November that Pfizer and BioNTech have developed a COVID-19 vaccine that is over 90% effective which could be ready to roll out via the NHS from 1st December. Slightly Premature announcement? Potentially yes, but I am sure you will agree it is very welcome news giving us all hope that the “old Normal is right around the corner.
Does this mean we can all forget about Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)?
Absolutely not! Did you know that on average the air inside a building is worse than the air outside? According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the levels of indoor air pollutants are often 2 to 5 times higher than outdoor levels, and in some cases these levels can exceed 100 times that of outdoor levels of the same pollutants.
It is amazing to think the air we have within our buildings can be worse than what is pictured above! Our reactions to issues are massively different if we can touch, see, or feel things. We take things more seriously if any of our senses are engaged. So, if we can’t smell, feel or see anything then we are all completely happy that there is no problem. No senses engaged, no problem!! Imagine how quickly you would be on the phone to an expert if all Viruses were coloured red, germs were yellow, and aerosols were blue. The view inside your building would be like you have just stepped inside a rainbow.
What is the point if COVID-19 has disappeared?
For one I do not think COVID-19 will disappear anytime soon plus there are a lot of other viruses out there such as Flu, C-Diff and Noro, to name a very small few. All these Viruses spread around offices and schools causing a lot of illness and time off from work which ultimately cost the company money in downtime, project delays and other costs.
What about the other benefits of providing good quality air?
Health and Wellbeing
I know, if we stop the spread of these viruses around the office and reduce employee absenteeism by 5, 10, 15 or maybe even 20% what a great benefit that would be! What about improving the health and wellbeing of people within the office, allowing people to feel better throughout their day which in turn improves concentration and productivity.
Environmental Impact
Back in June 2019 the UK government became the first major economy to pass a net zero emissions law. The target will require the UK to bring all greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050, compared with the previous target of at least 80% reduction from 1990 levels. Building HVAC systems contribute roughly 25 – 35% of the energy bill, therefore improving the maintenance and efficiency of the HVAC system will bring down the Carbon Footprint. There is also the ability to obtain BREEAM® and LEED® credits in multiple categories as well as Tax credits and incentives.
Energy and Maintenance Savings
Environmental impact and energy savings are obviously very closely linked. We have had many different Viruses such as MRSA, Norovirus, C-Diff, Avian Flu, Swine Flu & Ebola over the years. Which much like the current Pandemic has naturally peeked interest in Germicidal Irradiation, that interest very quickly disappeared as the health scares disappeared. The original and main reason for the UV-C technology has been to provide savings on energy and maintenance costs, which provided a return on investment within 12-24 months! This is achieved by keeping the coils free from mould and biofilm, which very quickly causes the HVAC system to run at a much lower efficiency. Efficiency signifies a peak level of performance that uses the least number of inputs to achieve the highest amount of output. Meaning the more efficient your systems run the less energy is consumed to achieve the same output.
Sustainability
As we talked about efficiency and maintenance in the last two sections so we can discuss the benefits again under sustainability. The more efficient the HVAC systems runs so the units and parts within them last longer and maintenance visits once again become maintenance visits and not fault find, repair and replace visits.
Conclusion
Our UV-C partner, E-Co are a Carbon Trust accredited supplier, which means they have undergone an independent accreditation process to demonstrate their skills and experience in delivering low energy, high performing solutions. They are the only supplier that can boast the following:
- Approved for use by NATO
- Specified by The MoD for the Royal Navy
- Endorsed by the Infection Prevention Society
- Clinically Validated
- Successfully tested by U.S Homeland security
Now is the time to trust these technological solutions, treat the air indoors and stop the spread. Can we change the governments ad campaign of Hands. Face. Space. To maybe not quite a catchy one of Air. Hands. Face. Space.
To get anywhere near back to “The Old Normal” and away from Lockdowns every 3- 4 months a world where this is described as “The New Normal”. The “New Normal” is lonely and stressful. It is difficult to travel for business or pleasure. Online meetings set up in Teams and Zoom has been fantastic, but I am fed up with telling people I can’t hear them because they are still on mute and then making the same mistake myself. Not greeting friends, colleagues, and customers old and new with a simple handshake. I would have ordinarily attended 4 to 5 exhibitions and talked to many different people face to face, looked around all the other companies’ exhibition stands and seen the hard work gone in to designing and building them. Now these are being conducted virtually, I have not attended one yet, but I know without a shadow of doubt they won’t continue like that once this is all over.
This conclusion could go on and on with the difference we are all experiencing and the troubles we have all gone through, like no toilet roll in the shop and having your wife cut your hair (she did a good job actually)!!
We can do something about this, we can get through this and come out the other side better whilst forgetting the term “The New Normal” and the year 2020!
Contact Bryair for further information and discussions on IAQ.
Please contact Bryair Mechanical () for further information and see how we can help improve your IAQ.
