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On Friday 2/12/2021 the CDC released its guidance for reopening schools. Unfortunately, they missed the fact that COVID-19 is a RESPIRATORY disease and cleaning the indoor AIR is key. See this 4 min Purge Virus solution video: https://youtu.be/jH-3Jnrri3A
CDC: Schools and Child Care Programs
Plan, Prepare, and Respond: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/index.html
Maintain Healthy Environments: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/community-mitigation.html
- Intensify cleaning and disinfection of frequently touched surfaces
- Ensure ventilation systems operate properly and increase circulation of outdoor air
- Ensure all water systems are safe to use
- Modify layouts to promote social distance of at least 6 feet between people – especially for persons who do not live together
- Install physical barriers and guides to support social distancing if appropriate
- Close communal spaces, or stagger use and clean and disinfect between use
- Limit sharing of objects, or clean and disinfect between use
Note: One of the CDC recommendations is “ventilation”, but increased ventilation of outside air does not disinfect the air. It is also costly for facilities, especially in the summer and winter. Purge Virus disinfects indoor air to REDUCE the SPREAD of pathogens like COVID-19. This video accompanies the article on indoor air quality and bipolar ionization (BPI).
For more information on how the CDC’s recommendation of increased ventilation will hurt facility owners and managers, see link and excerpts below: https://purgevirus.com/hvac-energy-savings/
The status quo is the major hurdle to a paradigm shift in how we maximize energy savings for HVAC systems in homes and commercial/industrial buildings. Indoor air quality procedures (IAQP) are complicated, and have requirements per the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Standard 62.1-2019 .
Bipolar Ionization (BPI) disinfection technology has the potential to save over 30% on HVAC energy costs. Ionization and measuring indoor air quality levels are readily available but require some expertise to do it right. Learn more about Bipolar Ionization.
The fortunate biproduct of cleaner indoor air is HVAC energy savings. Clean indoor air reduces the need to have as much outside replacement air in the ventilation system. Current ventilation standards lead to higher energy costs, with indoor air that is replaced with outside air 1-2 time per hour. This is literally like paying to heat the neighborhood in the winter and cooling the neighborhood in the summer. Bipolar ionization can reduce ventilation rates by up to 75%. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, buildings account for 40% of U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and HVAC is often the largest energy consumer, accounting for 35% of total building energy. With current ventilation standards, conditioning the outside air that is brought in represents 30-50% (average 40%) of the total load on HVAC systems in most climates. With a 75% reduction of outside replacement air on the average of 40% energy used for outside air treatment, the energy savings is 30% on HVAC. The 30% energy savings on the 40% of GHG adds up to a 12% reduction in GHG without changing ANY behavior.
THE RESULTS:
COVID-19 Results: Over 99% reduction of indoor air pathogens, which dramatically reduces the risk of infections.
HVAC Energy Savings relative to overall sustainability
Climate Change Results: 12% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions without any changes in human behavior.
