As the coronavirus affects communities around the world, business owners and facility managers are adapting to protect their customers and employees by limiting their hours, encouraging employees to work from home, or temporarily closing their offices, depending on the industry.
As an essential business, Custom Aire is taking all necessary precautions as advised by the Center for Disease Control, industry experts, and our local government agencies to keep our customers and employees safe while we continue our commercial HVAC installation, HVAC service, and 24/7 emergency HVAC repair services.
Because there’s an airborne virus in our midst, one of the major topics in the HVAC world that’s always relevant but has been pushed to the forefront of our minds is indoor air quality, or the quality of the air people breathe inside a building. If indoor air quality in a commercial building is poor, it can lead to a number of adverse short- or long-term health effects for occupants, which is concerning since people spend nearly 90% of their time indoors.
In addition to viruses, harmful particles that contribute to poor indoor air quality include dirt, smoke, bacteria, mold, cleaning supplies, and chemical emissions, among many others. Due to the energy-efficient construction of modern buildings, these pathogens circulate through your building’s HVAC system if it is not regularly maintained. In fact, pollutants in the air inside a building can be 2-5 times higher than outdoors, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Fortunately, there is a solution to help clean the air inside your office, apartment complex, store, or facility: a commercial air purification system. At Custom Aire, we can install a variety of products into your existing HVAC system that go beyond standard air filters to maintain healthy indoor air quality. Read below to learn about the different benefits of these systems and how they can help keep your building occupants healthy, now and in the future.
1. Germicidal Air Purifier
Air filters in forced-air HVAC systems are good for catching larger particles like dust, dander, and debris, but viruses, bacteria, and other germs pass through with ease because they are so small. Germicidal air purifiers are specialized to trap, kill, and prevent these tiny, yet harmful, pathogens from getting into your air supply.
2. Bipolar Ionization Generators
Bipolar ionization generators are self-cleaning air purifiers that emit positive and negative ions to kill mold, bacteria, and viruses; control odors; and reduce allergens, smoke, and static electricity in the air inside commercial buildings. These systems are specifically designed for rooftop units up to 12 tons and don’t usually require ductwork modifications. Instead, they are mounted right on the unit in a weather-tight enclosure.
3. Ultraviolet Lamps
Mold, bacteria, and fungi thrive in dark, moist environments like the cooling coils in your HVAC system. If left unchecked, these biological contaminants build up on your equipment, reduce system efficiency, and circulate into the air you breathe. Ultraviolet lamps enhance indoor air quality by using UV-C light to sterilize your equipment for cleaner, healthier air.
4. HEPA Filters
High-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters are mechanical air filters that use a fine mesh to trap and remove 99.97% of dust, pollen, mold, bacteria, and other airborne particles that are at least 0.3 microns (one-millionth of a meter) in size from your air space, to prevent respiratory issues like asthma and allergies.
Heres a micron comparison chart for reference:
– Spores: 3 40 microns
– Mold: 3 12 microns
– Bacteria: 0.3 60 microns
– Car emissions: 1 150 microns
– Pure oxygen: 0.0005 microns
5. Air Exchangers
As the name suggests, commercial air exchangers are mechanical ventilation systems that regularly circulate out stale, polluted air from indoors and replace it with fresh air from outside to ensure building occupants continue to breathe fresh air while indoors.
Installation will vary between commercial air purification systems, but will involve some sort of modification to your existing ductwork. The size of your building will dictate how many technicians are needed on site (usually 1 – 3 workers) to complete installation in a timely manner. Our experienced technicians are diligent about following guidelines set by the CDC, industry experts, and local government officials during COVID-19.
Air purifiers need to be maintained by a certified HVAC technician, along with your other equipment, at least once a year to function properly. Custom Aire offers several Energy Savings Maintenance Agreements (ESMA) to ensure your system keeps occupants safe, healthy, and comfortable, no matter what comes your way.
Contact us today to learn which commercial air purifier would work best to get your building on track to healthy indoor air quality.
