Allison A. Sakara, RN, MSN, NP, PHRN Are you ready for business in a Post-COVID-19 world?
How your HVAC system can help protect you, your employees and your customers
The World Health Organization has determined that environmental factors such as poor indoor air quality, poor water quality, and noise pollution are detrimental to the overall health of the world’s population. The CDC Interim Guidance to Businesses and Employers recommends all businesses “increase the number of air exchanges in the common work areas and other rooms employees share,” said CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield during the April 8, 2020 White House Corona Virus Briefing.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light the dangers of stale indoor air, poor air quality, and the environmental dangers that disproportionately impact workplaces across the nation. These dangers impact workers who work from home during the pandemic, the stay-at-home orders, and quarantines. It is imperative that every workplace (and home) follow the recommendations of the CDC for frequent fresh air exchanges with outside air. To limit liability and be competitive in a post-COVID-19 economy, employers must provide for the care and safety of employees, customers, and their families by optimizing workplace indoor air quality and minimizing airborne viruses.
Using your HVAC System to minimize Airborne Viruses and Optimize Indoor Air Quality
Fortunately, there are proven ways to use your HVAC system to minimize airborne viruses and optimize indoor air quality. But if the wrong type of device is chosen, or the wrong size is installed, the science shows they just don’t work. Here are the benefits and limitations of each:
1) HVAC UVC Coil Sanitizers
Much has been written and discussed in the press about the use of ultraviolet (UV) light to sanitize hard surfaces and even masks for healthcare workers. UV light comes in three distinct wavelengths with three very different functions, UVA, UVB, and UVC light. UVA is the art and party wavelength also referred to as “black light.” This is the light that causes fluorescent paints and dyes to glow. UVB is the light in tanning beds and medical skin treatments. While UVB can sanitize hard surfaces, it takes a long time and a very bright UVB bulb. UVC is the wavelength of choice for sanitizing surfaces, water, and even air.
Benefits
* UVC light kills viruses, bacteria, and mold on surfaces like the HVAC condenser coil and drip pan as well as sanitizing the air flowing over the UVC bulbs and any water in the drip pan or on the coil.
* Eliminates viruses, mold, and bacteria in ducts by removing the source on the coil
* Must meet three criteria to be effective:
1) MUST be Type C UV light (aka UVC)
2) MUST provide 30 watts of UVC light power per square inch. This requires that the UVC light source be a 40-watt bulb (or equivalent) located no further than 18 inches from the furthest part of the coil to be sanitized.
3) MUST SHINE UVC light on all sides of the coil (at least two bulbs, top & bottom).
Limitations
* Most DIY and even professionally installed UV sanitizers fail to meet all three criteria. For instance, most only have one 20-watt bulb, which is too little to be effective as a sanitizer.
* UVC light is DANGEROUS and an automatic shut off switch must be installed on the air handler access door to ensure the UVC light does NOT come on while the access door is open. UVC light works by damaging DNA and can cause skin cancer and even cataracts with unprotected exposure to UVC light.
2) Ozone Generators
Ozone has long been used by municipal water departments, public swimming pools, commercial aquariums, and even fish farms to sanitize water for decades. It is cheap and easy to produce but can be hazardous if breathed in overtime. In copy centers and office buildings, ozone is an indoor air pollutant. However small amounts can be introduced into the HVAC system to sanitize the air handler and ducts and then dissipate back to plain oxygen before entering the living or workspaces.
Benefits
* Introduce charged ozone molecules into the air INSIDE the device, which in turn creates a charge on airborne particles of viruses, dust, pollen, mold, bacterial spores, and smoke particles. These charged particles become trapped in a removable filter or degrade due to the damage caused by the ozone.
* Must be professionally installed to ensure the unit is properly sized for the HVAC system so that no ozone enters the living or workspace.
Limitations
* Most DIY ozone generators do not provide enough ozone to sanitize the coil and ducts. In addition, DIY ozone systems often allow ozone to leave the HVAC system mixed with the “cleaned” air. This ozone contributes to poor indoor air quality – essentially trading one problem for another one.
3) Whole Building SMART Ventilation Systems
SMART Technology now exists for HVAC systems, and it’s emerging as not only an extremely efficient way of saving energy, and in turn money, but also as a way of reducing airborne viruses and enhancing health for employees and customers alike.
SMART ventilation systems improve Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) by using outside air to exchange for indoor air when the outdoor air quality is better than the indoor air quality. This is accomplished by a SMART controller that uses a system of sensors to determine when to open dampers that allow outside air to be drawn into the building and stale indoor air to be expelled. By optimizing indoor air quality the environmental stress caused by exposure to poor air quality is reduced/minimized thus reducing the overall annual risk of heart attack, stroke, and viral infection. Artificial Intelligence analysis of Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) found that the relative risk for death by heart attack or stroke increases 14% when you live and work breathing poor quality indoor and outdoor air. Similarly, the risk of developing a serious infection after exposure to COVID-19 is significantly increased when you live and work breathing poor quality indoor and outdoor air.
Benefits
* Monitors outdoor and indoor air quality and exchanging the indoor air for outdoor air when the outdoor air quality is better than the indoor air quality.
* Expels airborne virus particles as well as dust, pollen, mold, bacterial spores, and smoke with the exhausting stale indoor air.
* Expels gasses like volatile organic compounds (VOCs), pollutant gases, odors, CO2, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, sulfurous gasses, nitrogenous gasses, radon, etc. with the exhausting stale indoor air.
* Optimizes the indoor air quality based on the best available air quality, adding outdoor humidity as needed or expelling air when the indoor humidity is subpar.
* Utilizes outdoor air instead of running the compressor when outdoor temperatures are appropriate to cool or heat the indoor space, thus extending coil drying time and eliminating the water required for mold and bacteria growth.
Summary
When it comes to combatting COVID-19, with some professionally installed modifications and annual maintenance, your HVAC system can and will remove airborne viruses and other indoor pollutants before they impact your health or the health of your employees, customers, and their families.
About the Author:
Allison A. Sakara, RN, MSN, NP, PHRN, is Managing Member & Regulatory Affairs Specialist with the Lake Wales, FL-based Natural Air E-Controls, LLC (www.naturalair.com). Natural Air E-Controls, LLC designs and builds HVAC control systems that enable the building’s HVAC equipment to provide fresh air and remove pollutants by taking in outdoor air in amounts needed to improve indoor air quality while saving on heating and cooling bills.
