When “Fresh Air” is Not Clean Air!

You have probably noticed the recently reported forest fires in New England over the past few weeks. Some people see this on their drive to work in the morning, while others might even see this when they look out their window at home.

This is the same air that is being brought into buildings as “Fresh Air” or “Clean Outside Air”.

ASHRAE requires all occupied buildings to bring in outside air as the solution to lowering the CO₂ counts and VOC’s, but what do we do when the outside air quality is worse than the inside air? Various applications, certainly including healthcare facilities, are using techniques to provide particulate control on ventilation air and/or techniques to purify the existing air within the space to meet the same intent as bringing in truly “fresh” outside air. SecureAire electronic filtration can be applied to both outside air systems and central air handling systems to address air quality. This technology is designed to reduce particulate matter and odor counts within buildings and can address/reduce smoke in outside air. In addition, enVerid Sorbent Ventilation Technology (SVT) can be applied to clean the existing air within the building by removing CO2 and VOC’s, and can ultimately provide the intended air quality without needing to manage contaminated outdoor air. enVerid also saves energy by reducing heating and cooling requirements when outdoor air volumes are reduced.

To minimize your risk and exposure during these local forest fire events, it is important to do the following:

• Monitor your local weather channel for air quality levels
• Follow the CDC's and any local fire official's recommendations to prevent smoke from getting into your lungs and reduce/close any outside windows and doors.
• Research and investigate EPA-recommended technologies that will help eliminate smoke from the air. Both SecureAire and enVerid have a proven record for providing high-quality indoor air, even when the outside air quality is compromised.

You can read more about forest fires on the SecureAire Blog.

Please contact your local HTS representative, or use the Contact form below, if you’d like to explore technologies for maximizing indoor air quality.