Indoor Air Quality is Crucial for Safety and Productivity
The risks of viruses are now starkly apparent, and it’s only going to get worse with climate change according to researchers. This begs the question: How do we better protect building and office occupants from the risks of contagion? This post will explore how we can better prepare for future pandemics, reduce the risks of contagion, and navigate the uncertainty of these challenging times.
The most important element in any interior air and environmental assay is accessing data regarding environmental conditions and operations within a defined space. Applying data analytics and machine learning algorithms can help create a comprehensive roadmap to improve operating efficiencies and understand conditions pertaining to emergent risks and exposure.
A process improvement framework is constructed by transforming data and analytics into metrics that are aligned to desired outcomes such as sustainability and energy efficiency. Green Econometrics has developed a framework to monitor, measure and curate data pertaining to process and sustainability performance. This is extremely important.
Our approach is an analytics platform built to ensure continuous process improvement. This sustainability approach involves a proprietary data-driven monitoring and analytics platform that continually evaluates conditions and performance of energy and environmental systems. In addition, our analytics platform is quantitative, metric-specific, and dynamic. The process begins with loading granular data into process, activity and condition silos. Then, we mine the data for actionable insights. Our data analytics platform, together with the ability we provide to remotely monitor, measure and curate data, enables alert notification, context development, visual insight, and sustainability performance benchmarking. These are key metrics and capabilities that will transform your business model.
There are now sensors that are capable of detecting indoor viruses and pathogens. And we know that filtration and purification systems such as High Efficiency Particle Air (HEPA) filters, ultra violet (UV) lighting, IoT devices and bi-polar ionization air purification systems can dramatically improve indoor air quality.
But virus detection systems are costly. Using our proxy environmental sensors to measure air changes and air particulate matter offers enterprises and offices a more cost-effective solution. While virus sensors are available, they are not yet a cost-effective approach. In other words, it is currently more cost effective to monitor the number of room air changes per hour with filtration, than to deploy expensive sensors to detect viruses.
Preparing for the return of employees and future pandemics means familiarizing oneself with air filtration and purification technologies.
HEPA Filters
The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers
(ASHRAE) guidelines for HEPA filters are based on particle removal efficiency and clean air delivery rate (CADR). The filters are ranked according to Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) on a scale of 1-to-16, where 16 has the highest level of particle filtration meaning the filter can block more than 95% of dust and particles in the air. So, the higher the MERV rating, the greater the filter’s ability to capture particles in the air. Carbon and electrostatic air filters are filtration alternatives. There are tradeoffs with filtration systems in terms of maintenance expenses and longevity.
Air Changes per Hour (ACH) is a measure of the amount of air passing through a filtration system and some industries may require acceptable air quality in terms of ACH rates. State and federal codes require verification of room air changes in healthcare facilities. Regulations follow ASHRAE Standard 170, 62.1, and 62.2, and are included in the Uniform Mechanical Code (UMC), Unified Facilities Criteria (UFC), as well as the American Society of Healthcare Engineering (ASHE). The required air changes per hour vary depending on the specified use of the room. Surgical rooms may require 20 ACH and emergency rooms 12 ACH. The ACH calculations are based on the ventilation system and fan air flow measured in cubic feet per minute (CFM) relative to the dimensions of the room. Essentially, it is the air flow in CFM divided by room sizes in cubic feet. Identifying and controlling ACH rates may be key to effective indoor air quality systems.
UV lighting
The application of ultraviolet light to inactivate microorganisms is known as Germicidal Irradiation or UVGI and has a long history of use. UV lights act to disrupt the DNA of microorganisms. UV lighting is part of the electromagnetic spectrum with a wavelength in the range of 200 to 400 nanometers (nm) and is separated into four bands A, B, C, and V with bands C and V being the most intense. Exposure to UV lighting can be harmful to humans and when the DNA of a microorganism is exposed to UV-C and higher radiation, molecular instability occurs, rendering a disruption of the virus DNA and it rapidly dies.
Recently, LED chips are being used to produce UV lighting. LED lighting because they employ semiconductor chips can be produced at higher efficiencies and at a much lower cost. LED UV lighting can be contained within a standard light fixture without allowing UV light exposure in the room. Low cost and a contained chamber allows for a cost-effective means of air purification.
IoT (Internet of Things) Sensors
Air quality sensors are capable of timely capture of environmental conditions including carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), volatile organic compounds (VOC) and small particulate matter, specifically, PM2.5 microns in size. This is important because these tiny particles or droplets in the air, smaller than 2.5 microns, can also carry virus droplets. Using CO2 and PM2.5 sensors can be used as proxy gauges to evaluate ACH and ventilation rates in a defined area.
Bi-Polar Ionization
Bi-Polar Ionization uses charged particles to convert oxygen molecules in the air into positive and negative ions. These charged ions interact with air contaminants including dust bacteria, viruses, microorganisms, volatile organic compounds and mold. In this manner, Bi-Polar Ionization acts to purify indoor air. Air contaminants are eradicated and precipitate out of the air itself. Bi-Polar Ionization can be installed with the ventilation systems within the building.
The key takeaway of these air filtration and purification technologies is their dependence on air ACH. Access to data that is monitoring and measuring indoor air quality is crucial in maintaining the health and safety of occupants.
Why Health & Safety
That’s a good question. Harvard University research provides the answer: “Results showed that employees in the green condition environment performed 61% better on cognitive tasks than in the standard office conditions. Further, by doubling the ventilation in the green condition environment, cognitive performance increased by more than 100%.”
Air Quality Harvard University Research
Operating Cost and IAQ Benefits
Research indicates that employee costs represent a substantially large portion of business operating expenses. Productive employees are healthy employees. Healthy air and operating conditions are paramount to maintaining a healthy environment. Automated alert notifications and visual understanding of operating conditions and performance provide a mechanism to manage risks and lower costs. Given the tradeoff between energy efficiency and indoor air ventilation, better measurement and management offers savings with benefits.
Benefits include:
Health and safety of occupants
- Detection and alerts to leaks, unhealthy air,
- Synch your environmental performance benchmark to EPA and ASHRAE guidelines,
- Monitor & control Volatile Organic Compounds – and other harmful chemicals,
- CO2 – tools to manage energy efficiency and measure ACH,
- Particulate Matter PM2.5 detection – dust is very harmful to respiration; and,
- Air, Water, Energy and Sustainability for enterprise and agency sustainability.
Key Value Drivers of Data Analytics Framework
Roadmap: the linkage of enterprise data sources by defining and measuring performance metrics relevant to goals and objectives, together with analytics that seek to explain the relationship among variables and the course to drive efficiency optimization is key. Let me explain…
Feedback Loops: Feedback loops provide the framework required for continuous process performance. Feedback loops provide the guidance for machine learning to navigate and drive efficiency performance.
Time to Insight: Visual analytics enable faster time-to-insight. Data-driven platforms employ analytics to optimize efficiency and productivity by mapping granular performance metrics aligned with goals and objectives.
Our analytics platform improves process and efficiency performance. This analytics framework enables secure and agile scale – offering health and environmental benefits as well as operating profitability and general well-being. We’d be happy to show you how it works.
Environmental Monitoring and Analytics Platform
Our approach is based on our proprietary analytics platform built for continuous process improvement. This sustainability approach is a data-driven monitoring and analytics platform that evaluates conditions and performance of energy and environmental conditions and demonstrates where outliers exist and improvements can be made
If we are ever going to secure our buildings and office spaces from the threat of this and other worldwide pandemics, we need to be planning and making the necessary changes now. Let us get you started on the process. We’ve got your back.
3 Metrics to Guide Air Quality Health & Safety – green econometrics
[…] Organic Compounds (VOCs), and particles. In our previous post, Green Econometrics discussed Air Changes per Hour (ACH) as a measure of air filtration performance – how many times does the air in a room […]