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ASHRAE Reopening Schools

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Posted by Kelly Duffy on Oct 28, 2020 9:45:00 AM

Tags: COVID-19

 
 
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ASHRAE Determining Building Readiness and Operations for Existing Facilities to Reoccupy After Shut-Down due to Pandemic

Hi *|FNAME|*, 
Protecting the health, safety, and welfare of the world’s students from the spread of SARS-Cov-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19 disease) is essential to protecting the health, safety, and welfare of the entire population. 

ASHRAE’s position is that “Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 through the air is sufficiently likely that airborne exposure to the virus should be controlled. Changes to building operations, including the operation of heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning [HVAC] systems, can reduce airborne exposures.”
There is a broad variety of complexity, flexibility, and age in HVAC equipment, systems, controls, and Building Automation Systems (BAS) in educational facilities. 

This guidance has been formulated to help designers retrofit and plan for the improvement of indoor air quality and to slow the transmission of viruses via the HVAC systems. The underlying effort of the designer should be to increase outside air to the spaces and treat return air.  The designer should also be concerned with mechanical filtration of the supply air and maintaining indoor comfort as defined by the design temperature and relative humidity. 

This guidance should be applied to each unique climate zone, unique school building, and HVAC system. All retrofits and modifications must not contradict ASHRAE 62.1 guidelines and must continue to or exceed the standards and codes adopted by local jurisdictions. The designer needs to work closely with the local school system to work in conjunction with new operational protocols and school operations.
The following is meant to provide practical information and checklists to the school district and university campus environmental health managers, facility managers, administrators, technicians, and service providers to prepare educational buildings to resume occupancy. This information describes how the HVAC systems should be operating to help minimize the chance of spreading SARS-Cov-2 and how to practically check/verify that operation. 

These recommendations and strategies are organized in order from simple first steps, more involved next steps and then more long-term improvements
1. Create a District or Campus Health and Safety Committee that includes all stakeholders (environmental health and safety, administration, education staff, operations staff, local healthcare providers, etc.)
2. Develop policies for staff and contractor PPE requirements for completing work at facilities that follow local authority, CDC, and OSHA guidelines for the proper use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

 
3. Where semi-annual/annual scheduled maintenance on the equipment can be performed safely, do not defer this maintenance cycle. 
4. Where worker safety could be at risk, defer semi-annual/ annual maintenance on the equipment up to 60 days until worker safety can be accomplished. 
5. During the summer period before occupancy perform Checklist No. 1 Summer Checklist for Fall Start of Classes.
6. Operate all HVAC in the occupied mode for a minimum of one week prior to occupancy.


***Information provided by ASHRAE
Filtration Upgrades
The focus of this section is to provide instructions for educational facility managers to increase their filtration efficiency in existing air systems on a temporary basis during the pandemic. The presentation focuses on filtration basics for a facility manager, an information gathering phase, a data analytics and review phase and lastly a series of implementation and considerations an educational facility manager may address. Refer to the section on Filtration/Disinfection under the COVID-19.

This guidance has been formulated to help designers and facility managers to retrofit and plan for the improvement of indoor air quality and to slow the transmission of virus via the HVAC systems. The underlying effort of the designer should be to increase outside air to the spaces, treat return air and or supply air to spaces via mechanical filtration or treating the air and maintain indoor comfort as defined by temperature and relative humidity.

The guidance should be applied to each unique clima
te zone, unique school building and HVAC system. All retrofits and modifications must not contradict ASHRAE 62.1 guidelines and must continue to meet code. The designer needs to work closely with the local school system to work in conjunctions with new operational protocols and school operations.


***Information provided by ASHRAE
 
Clean air is on everyone’s minds. It is generally acknowledged that indoor air quality existing within most public buildings large and small is unsatisfactory and unhealthy. Studies and research correlate billions of dollars in lost productivity with poor air quality. Federal, state and local regulations now mandate various types of protection to virtually all employees in public buildings against airborne contaminants and hazards. The use of Air Purification Systems for buildings of any size and use is a necessity to guard against the many hazards existing within the air we breathe. We offer a wide line of the top manufacturers in the field to stop the spread! 

BENEFITS OF STERIL-AIRE ENHANCED SINGLE ENDED SERIES UVC EMITTERS:

  • Proven UVC technology, backed by science: Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation is proven to be effective inactivating mold, bacteria and viruses
  • Energy Savings: Lowers energy costs by restoring heat transfer and airflow uniformity across the coils
  • Improves Indoor Air Quality: Steril-Aire destroys HVAC biofilm, preventing the growth and distribution of airborne pathogens in occupied spaces
  • Safe: Produces no ozone or secondary contaminants
  • Improves Operational Efficiency: Eliminates costly HVAC cleaning programs and extends equipment life
  • Cost Effective: ROI is typically less than 2 years
  • Quality: UL, CUL, CE and other agency listings
BPI is a cost-effective solution to deliver a healthier, more pleasing indoor environment.  Furthermore, designers of the HVAC system may be able to reduce the amount of the outside air ventilation load while maintaining or actually improving indoor air quality, leading to significant heating and cooling energy cost savings.

Benefits:
•Mitigates odors
•Reduces many gaseous contaminants
•Controls VOCs
•Deactivates bacteria, viruses, mold, and fungi
•Reduces ventilation requirements, operating, and maintenance costs
•Easily integrated into HVAC systems

The Dynamic V8 has set the standard in air cleaning–outperforming anything on the market in contaminant control, maintenance, and cost of ownership.

Designed to meet the rigorous requirements of Green buildings, data centers, hospitals, pharmaceutical and clean manufacturing, the Dynamic V8 Air Cleaning System couples maximum effectiveness with unparalleled energy and operational savings.

The Dynamic V8, offering MERV 15 performance, utilizes both the principles of existing Dynamic products as well as several important technological advances to create a system that is a quantum leap over the current state of the art. Dynamic V8 Air Cleaning Systems offer property owners dramatic savings when using the Dynamic V8 in place of 4” MERV 13 filters in either flat or angled filter racks.  On average, it takes at least 32 changes of MERV 13 filters before the first change is needed for the Dynamic V8 - without pre-filters.

Ventilation and filtration provided by heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning systems can reduce the airborne concentration of SARS-CoV-2 and thus the risk of transmission through the air. Unconditioned spaces can cause thermal stress to people that may be directly life-threatening and that may also lower resistance to infection. In general, disabling of heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning systems is not a recommended measure to reduce the transmission of the virus.
To read the full document issued click the button below!

ASHRAE Reopening Schools & Universities Click Here
For more information on the products listed or how Energy Transfer Solutions can help your community visit etshvac.com or email petew@etshvac.com or mikem@etshvac.com
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