How to Improve Indoor Air Quality & Productivity

Clean Air Solution by Camfil USA. Leader in Air Filters for Commercial and Industrial applications.

Recent studies suggest that indoor air quality and productivity of employees are related factors and that healthy air quality directly contributes to the performance of staff. Understanding the relationship between the two topics will help employers improve both air quality and the health and performance of their employees.

While corporate wellness programs often include instructions on diet and exercise to improve employee health and performance, wellness programs may want to start focusing on the environment of the office building itself. Recent studies have found a link between indoor air quality and productivity of staff. A good ventilation system will not only maintain the health and comfort of employees, it will also enhance their cognitive performance and efficiency. Why does poor air quality mean poorer employee performance, and what can be done to ensure the high quality of both?

Relationship between indoor air quality and productivity

Better air quality translates to fewer pollutants in the air and more oxygen. Improved oxygen flow to the brain results in better cognitive performance, while symptoms of oxygen deprivation include a decline in cognition. (1)

A joint study done by Harvard University and Syracuse University investigated the relationship between indoor air quality and productivity. The research teams tested employees under a variety of simulated office environments with various levels of carbon dioxide, emissions from office products and ventilation. The employees were tested and monitored under two different circumstances. One of the test conditions involved employees doing regular tasks in “green” conditions with improved ventilation where carbon dioxide and emission levels were reduced, while the other condition had the employees doing their tasks in regular office building conditions. (2)

“The employees who carried out their tasks under the green environment performed around 60% better in cognitive tasks than the employees who were tested in a standard office environment,” explains Kevin Wood, Camfil USA Vice President Sales & Marketing. “When ventilation was doubled in the green testing conditions, their cognitive performance increased by more than 100%. These findings are compelling reasons to get serious about indoor air quality and productivity in offices and other workplaces, it affects not only the health of your employees but your bottom line.”

In addition to the helpful effects of improved air quality on cognition, good air quality also improves general health. Yet another study was conducted which examined 10 green-certified buildings and found that employees in these circumstances dealt with around 30% fewer headaches and respiratory problems than employees in the average office building. This was on top of a 27% boost in performance on cognitive tasks. Employees even slept better at night.

Investing in the clean indoor air for employees quickly pays for itself. Recent research suggests that spending around $40 a person every year on indoor air quality results in around a $6500 increase in productivity.

Improving indoor air quality and productivity

Improving indoor air quality and productivity can be done once it is determined that a building has air quality problems. Variables like carbon dioxide emissions, humidity, airflow, and temperature can be analyzed to determine if there is a problem with indoor air quality. Preventative steps should also be taken to ensure good air quality. Heating and cooling systems and filters and purifiers should be regularly maintained and inspected to stop the spread of pollutants before they become an issue.  (3)

There are three main strategies that must be integrated together to control indoor air quality. Pollutants should be diluted and removed from the building with ventilation, and filtration systems should be used to clean the air of remaining pollutants.

Sources of pollutants should be removed from the building or isolated from occupants using air pressure relationships and physical barriers. Biological contaminants like mold, bacteria, pollen, and other allergens can result from poor maintenance or cleaning and can be brought into the building by occupants or with introduced outside air. Chemical pollutants are often generated by products used within the building like chemical cleaners, or certain appliances. Indoor air quality management programs should work to minimize people’s exposure to these pollutants in the first place.

“As buildings have become increasingly energy efficient they have also become increasingly airtight. This means that less air is flowing in and out of the building, so pollutants can easily become trapped inside,” says Kevin Wood, Camfil USA Vice President Sales & Marketing. “Ventilation is necessary to control air quality under these conditions, as they function by diluting substances such as mold or carbon dioxide. HVAC systems are integral to maintaining good air quality, but they can also be sources of pollutants in some instances, as filters can become contaminated with moisture or dirt which may lead to microbial growth.” (4)

HVAC systems are most effective when designed to meet the needs of the building it is installed in, so if a building is modified the HVAC system should be upgraded to accommodate the changes. For instance, if an office building is retrofitted to hold more employees, the HVAC system should be changed as well.

Facility managers play a critical role in promoting both good indoor air quality and productivity. They should assess the current indoor air quality by reviewing records for HVAC design, installation, and operation and create an indoor air profile for the building that includes potential sources of indoor air pollution.

“Facility managers can educate staff about managing indoor air quality through training and policies for managing pollutant sources. Managers should maintain and operate the building and ventilation system, ensuring high-quality indoor air by creating and reinforcing standard operating and maintenance policies and by quickly responding to spills, floods, leaks or other accidents that could negatively affect indoor air quality”, explains Wood. “Finally, facility managers should be sure to manage potential sources of pollutants such as cigarette smoke, dust, and debris from construction, fumes from pest control products and exhaust fumes from garages.” (5)

If you want to improve both the air quality in your building and the productivity of your workers, visit Camfil air filters for professional air filtration advice about maintaining air quality and read about the excellent range of air filter solutions and commercial grade air purifiers.

Lynne Laake

Camfil USA Air Filters

T: 888.599.6620,

E:Lynne.Laake@camfil.com

F: Friend  Camfil USA on Facebook

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Camfil Air Filters Announces Support of New ISO 16890 Standard for Air Filtration

Clean Air Solution by Camfil USA. Leader in Air Filters for Commercial and Industrial applications.

Air filtration standards will now be uniform throughout the world

Camfil is pleased to announce its support of a new ISO 16890 standard that is an alternative to the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) 52:2 standard that has been used in the U.S., and EN779 that was used in Europe and other parts of the world. ISO 16890 creates a global standard that brings harmony and unity to the way air filter efficiency is measured.

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“We welcome the new ISO standard, because of its worldwide application to air filtration efficiency,” stated Kevin Wood, Camfil USA Vice President Sales & Marketing. “To this point, there has not been a global standard that eliminates confusion between countries as to which of the standards in use are superior. This was a decision that was made with the cooperation of all countries involved, which shows the need for a standard that all stakeholders could agree was necessary given the challenges we face fighting pollution across the globe.”

The ISO 16890 standard – which took effect on December 1, 2016 – creates new guidelines for air filter efficiency with values that replace the old ASHRAE standards’ Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV). In the past, ASHRAE 52.2 and EN779 were a cause of confusion among air filter consumers as they were unsure how to compare efficiency rates in countries that did not use the same standards.

“This new standard clears the field for both air filter consumers and air filter manufacturers,” added Wood. “With ISO 16890, comparisons are now useful, because every filter is subject to the same standards. Therefore, consumers can compare air filtration products and devices on an equal basis, and decide what works best for their needs. In the long run, this will also benefit consumers because it will drive out some of the lower-quality products from the market.”

The ISO 16890 Standard also rates the ability of air filters to trap ultrafine particles, referred to as PM1, that are one micron or less in diameter. Furthermore, air filters are now tested for efficiency when they are new, and also after their electrostatic charge has faded or been removed. This secondary testing is important because studies have found that electrostatic charges artificially enhance air filter performance during lab testing. The requirement of a second test now provides a true analysis of an air filter’s capability to trap hazardous particles.

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Camfil is the world leader in air filtration and clean air solutions, with 23 production plants and R&D centers in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region. For more information, visit us online at www.camfil.us.  

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Lynne Laake

Camfil USA Air Filters

T: 888.599.6620,

E: Lynne.Laake@camfil.com

F: Friend  Camfil USA on Facebook

T: Follow Camfil USA on Twitter

Y: Watch Camfil Videos on YouTube

L: Follow our LinkedIn Page

SOURCE Camfil.us

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Should You Extend the Time Between PM Service Calls?

Clean Air Solution by Camfil USA. Leader in Air Filters for Commercial and Industrial applications.

Base PM schedule on equipment needs, not air filter changes.

Ask drivers how often they should change oil in their cars and you’ll likely hear an answer that’s been repeated for generations: ‘three months or every 3,000 miles, whichever comes first.’ The performance of older automobile engines and the low quality of motor oil demanded a short interval be followed to avoid expensive repairs. However, that may no longer be valid as improvements to automotive engines and advancement in oil chemistry has changed the paradigm; saving many companies significant internal or external labor hours and cost.

While car manufacturers are extending maintenance intervals up to 10,000 miles in some cases, that message has not yet reached everyone.  Quick in-and-out oil change shops with guilt inducing windshield stickers, are doing their best to insure the 3,000 mile/ three-month oil change remains firmly in place, for obvious reasons.

Oil change intervals are not the only maintenance cycle under challenged due to advanced technology.  Recent improvements to HVAC equipment, building automation systems and air filter technology have progressed to the point where the question should be asked: Is it also time to rethink the industry standard of quarterly PM service calls on your HVAC equipment?

Let’s look at just a few recent technical innovations on three key components of HVAC systems and how they give you flexibility when determining the optimum interval between PM calls.

1. Like most mechanical systems, HVAC equipment has benefited from the improved reliability of raw materials in the supply chain. Stress fractures from the vibration of moving parts for example, is less of an issue as the consistency of metals and other materials used for structural supports have become more reliable. Belts, which in the past required regular inspections, now routinely run a minimum of one year between adjustments.

If we look inside at the heart of an HVAC systems, new variable speed compressor technology reduces wear and tear by matching the compressor’s operational speed to the demand load. This also reduces repeated startups from a dead stop which is not only hard on equipment, but requires significant energy.

If the compressor is the heart of the system, coils are the veins and arteries. Micro-channel coil technology, borrowed from the automotive industry, utilizes aluminum tubes as opposed to fins. These tubes are much sturdier with a higher resistance to corrosion. The manufacturing technique used to produce these coils has fewer critical inherent failure points which further improves reliability.

2. A maintenance office in today’s world may resemble an air traffic control tower due to the expanded use of building automation systems. It was not all that long ago, the ability to continuously monitor and adjust the performance of your HVAC equipment from a single computer terminal was limited to Fortune 500 companies with deep pockets. That is no longer the case as the widespread use of this technology has brought its benefits within nearly everyone’s budget.

These systems give the user the ability to monitor the current condition of multiple units with the same level of confidence as a visual inspection.  As software continuously improves, diagnostic functions and even equipment failure predictions, will allow managers to avoid running equipment to failure between pre-scheduled maintenance calls.

3. The air filter is the final piece of the puzzle. More than the other two components, the service life of the pleated air filter has historically been the primary driver when developing a PM schedule. In the past, air filters would need replacing every three months. The lack of technical innovation to improve service life by air filter manufacturers coupled with service contractors who built their business models on four changes per year, left the industry with their version of the “3000 mile oil change.”

However, according to Camfil USA’s Food and Beverage Segment Manager, Mark Davidson; “While today’s pleated air filters may look the same as they used to, the similarity ends there. Today, you can find structurally strong, water-resistant pleated filters produced from multiple fiber densities with higher MERV ratings. It may be a surprise to learn, but 12-month service life guarantees are now available”

“Be an active participant when selecting air filters that protect your people and your products. Everyone in the supply chain doesn’t have the same motives so it’s up to user to request test reports or modeling software projections. After purchase and installation, validate those lab reports with actual field testing to confirm performance.”

“Also, demand those service life guarantees,” says Davidson, “and take advantage of those filters capable of delivering higher performance. PM schedules can now be developed after removing the service life of the air filter from the equation. In other words, create PM schedules based solely upon the needs and performance of equipment; not because an air filter needs to be changed.”

Based on the advancement in equipment performance, building controls and air filter technology, should building managers rethink the practice of automatically scheduling quarterly PM service calls? It may be hard to say yes to that question, but remember that improvements in the auto industry challenged something as deep-seated as the 3000-mile oil change, and we are all the better for it. Overall cost to the consumer is down, performance is up and we are disposing of far less waste oil.

In the HVAC world, it seems technological improvements now allow PM schedules to be based primarily on the mechanical needs of the equipment and not because the air filters need changing. System performance is improved, overall cost down and far fewer dirty filters shipped to landfills.

CONCLUSION:

For more than 50 years, Camfil has sold value added energy and labor saving air filtration products to commercial facilities.

Camfil air filters remove not only dust, but fine particles down to the sub-micron level.

Instead of just improving the air quality, air filters can also save money through a reduction in energy costs. Without effective air filtration systems, indoor pollutants can cause a variety of health problems.

Clean air is a human right because it is essential for life.

Camfil is focused on creating a better future. Camfil air filtration products today are delivering unmatched results, in terms of both filtration and energy efficiency, but there is still much work to be done.

 

Lynne Laake

Camfil USA Air Filters

T: 888.599.6620,

E: Lynne.Laake@camfil.com

F: Friend  Camfil USA on Facebook

T: Follow Camfil USA on Twitter

Y: Watch Camfil Videos on YouTube

L: Follow our LinkedIn Page

SOURCE Camfil.us

 

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