Q. What has happened in the last 2 months? A. Not enough!
Public Health England published the following information in a very recent update regarding transmission:
“SARS-CoV-2″ is primarily transmitted between people through respiratory (droplet and aerosol) and contact routes. Transmission risk is highest where people are in close proximity (within 2 metres). Procedures or support treatments that generate aerosols can cause airborne transmission in health care settings. Airborne transmission may also occur in poorly ventilated indoor spaces. Particularly if individuals are in the same room together for an extended period of time. At the moment, human-to-human transmission is occurring extensively. Hence, people should take precautions to prevent human-to-human transmission for both suspected and confirmed cases.” (See infection prevention and control guidance).
Q. What is happening now? A. Still not enough. We must educate and take action!
A lot of evidence points towards Indoor Air Quality (IAQ), or the lack of good IAQ, which is just as culpable if not more so, as frequent touch points for the spread of COVID-19.
How many times have you sat somewhere you’re supposed to wear a mask and pulled it down to get some air? How safe do people feel going back to the office? As we all know many measures are already in place for social distancing, face masks and frequent touch points. Is this enough?
How many times have you gone to the shop without your mask? I know I have and would imagine the majority of people answering would also be a yes!
But what have you read about regarding the air we breathe within the office, coffee shop or restaurant?
Touch Points or IAQ?
A recent report found that a lady with Coronavirus entered a Starbucks coffee shop in South Korea. She ordered her coffee and sat in the shop under a switched-on air-conditioning cassette unit. This proceeded to pick up the virus and spread it around the rest of the coffee shop. It infected 56 other people who were inside the shop and not wearing masks.
This story is looking at the benefits of wearing a mask and is absolutely correct. However there are some places where this is just not practical. They can be uncomfortable and restricting to wear, meaning people will remove them to “take a breather”.
What technology is out there for improving IAQ?
There are a few different ways of improving IAQ within the building space, they are as follows;
Option 1. Regular maintenance with Bryair and UVC treatment within HVAC systems.
Option 2. Regular maintenance with Bryair and installation of HEPA filters within HVAC systems.
Option 3. Regular maintenance with Bryair and installation of Bipolar Ionisation technology.
CIBSE AND HVAC Systems
The below is taken from CIBSE webpage entitled “Coronavirus, SARS-COV-2, COVID-19 and HVAC Systems.”
“Where cleaning or planned maintenance of ventilation systems is required, such as in catering premises, it should be undertaken in line with agreed industry guidance, including that relating to site operations under social distancing requirements. Appropriate PPE should be worn and all materials, including old filters, should be carefully bagged, and disposed of safely. Given the requirement for many business premises to close for the immediate future, there is unlikely to be a requirement to undertake work on their ventilation of air conditioning systems at this time.”
“In poorly ventilated spaces with a high occupancy and where it is difficult to increase ventilation rates it may be appropriate to consider using air cleaning and disinfection devices. The most appropriate devices are likely to be local HEPA filtration units or those that use germicidal UV (GUV) radiation. GUV devices use radiation in the UV-C spectrum, and researchers have shown that they inactivate coronaviruses.”
What about Air Quality Monitoring?
Another side of IAQ that we have recently looked at is, monitoring the air we breathe.
Researchers have shown that air quality and COVID-19, together with other viruses, are very closely linked. Some air quality monitors can use the data within the office to help create conditions inside buildings that helps to deactivate viruses and to enhance our immune system.
We provide this information in a user-friendly software package that details accurate, real-time data, which you can feed into your building’s BMS system to help you maintain good-quality air.
With many different parameters measured and recorded this gives you the insight to be able to make changes to the setting within the BMS. We closely monitor data such as temperature, relative humidity, PM2.5, carbon dioxide and nitrogen dioxide and we set alarms at user-defined levels. These settings and information allow you to set up your building for the best conditions to fight the spread of viruses.
Conclusion
The news and evidence clearly show that this virus is not going away anytime soon and news updates state that the government is very close to agreeing on a two-week lockdown.
We need to improve IAQ in all buildings by introducing more fresh air where possible and by ensuring that HVAC experts regularly maintain HVAC systems. Monitoring the air inside and using germicidal cleaning technology which provides the user with not only good quality air but energy savings. Improving air quality also delivers health benefits, such as increased productivity because fewer germs and viruses spread around the office, which reduce staff sickness.
If you have a project you’d like to discuss, please contact us.