Tuesday, January 26, 2021

Air Filtration Expert Explains ASHRAE Standard-170-2017 Addendum-a

The ongoing global pandemic has brought with it a marked increase in public awareness of the impact and importance of indoor air quality, in large part due to the evidence that COVID-19 infections have been spreading via airborne channels as well as via person-to-person contact.

In a new video, air filtration expert Kyle Petersen, Healthcare Segment Manager at Camfil USA, explains ASHRAE Standard 170-2017 Addendum-a, which lists updated air filtration efficiency recommendations for healthcare facilities.

What is ASHRAE?

ASHRAE, which stands for the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, is a professional association made up of engineers, architects, mechanical contractors, and other professionals who contribute their knowledge and experience to improving the HVAC industry. With more than 57,000 members across 132 countries worldwide, ASHRAE is the authority when it comes to developing technical standards for indoor air quality and related areas.

What is ASHRAE Standard 170?

What is ASHRAE Standard 170?

According to ASHRAE, Standard 170 was “developed in partnership with Facility Guidelines Institute (FGI) and American Society of Health Care Engineering (ASHE)” and “has been providing key guidance on ventilation requirements for health care industry facilities since 2008.”

“The committee draws on the experience of its members and others in their industry to develop these baseline standards and minimum requirements, with the hopes that local municipalities will enforce them to ensure public safety,” says Petersen.

First introduced in 2008, ASHRAE Standard 170 is published on a four-year cycle; the current version was first released in 2017. As in any science-based field, what experts know about indoor air quality is constantly being refined and updated, as is the latest HVAC and air filtration technology. Between publications, therefore, ASHRAE sometimes releases Addendums. “It’s important to keep in mind that ASHRAE 170 is a continuous work in progress,” he says, “The committee meets on a regular basis, and they continually update the standard to reflect technological or environmental changes that are occurring out in the real world.”

How Does Standard 170-2017 Addendum-a Impact Healthcare Standards?

The recommendations moving forward are designated by space as well as the type of facility. Mr. Petersen stresses that the term “healthcare facilities” shouldn’t be understood to mean only large buildings with an “H” on them. The term also includes outpatient centers and assisted living facilities. Healthcare facilities may be the buildings where COVID-19 is being treated, but the link between poor air quality and poor health outcomes extends beyond healthcare facilities and into commercial and retail buildings as well. indoor air quality is and will continue to be vital to health and healthcare outside of the context of the pandemic. “When you start to take this broader view of healthcare, you start to really see how vital good air quality is.”

Addendum-a breaks healthcare facilities down into three broad categories, and makes specific recommendations for each:

  • Inpatient facilities, such as hospitals

  • Outpatient facilities, such as urgent care rooms

  • Residential facilities, such as assisted living facilities

Importantly, 170 Addendum-a states in an informative appendix “Where listed, MERV rating is assumed to be non-degrading,” therefore implying that the recommendations are for MERV-A rated filters, which retain their effectiveness for the duration of their product life.

Addendum-a is publicly available here. For further clarification regarding how your healthcare facility may need to adapt to these recommendations, let an air filtration specialist contact you.

About Camfil Clean Air Solutions

For more than half a century, Camfil worldwide has been helping people breathe cleaner air. As a leading manufacturer of premium clean air solutions, we provide commercial and industrial systems for air filtration and air pollution control that improve worker and equipment productivity, minimize energy use, and benefit human health and the environment. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Camfil has been applying their decades of experience in biosafety containment, healthcare, and other sectors of the air filtration industry to provide technological solutions for the public as well as in hospitals and healthcare facilities. To get in touch with a local Camfil consultant, please click here.

https://www.camfil.com/en-us

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Media Contact:

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

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Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Can COVID-19 Be Spread through Airborne Transmission

New Findings Show that COVID-19 May Be Spread through Airborne Transmission – Camfil USA Air Filters

In contrast to previous statements, which emphasized evidence that COVID-19 spreads primarily through respiratory droplets during close contact with an infected person, the World Health Organization (WHO) has acknowledged that “airborne transmission through respiratory aerosols could not be ruled out in crowded and poorly ventilated settings.”

The CDC has reported that virus appears to spread in one of the following four ways in most cases:

New Findings Show that COVID-19 May Be Spread through Airborne Transmission
  1. Person-to-person in close contact with one another.

  2. Through large respiratory droplets inhaled or deposited on mucous membranes when a nearby infected person coughs, sneezes, sings, talks, or even breathes.

  3. Airborne through smaller droplet nuclei or aerosols.

  4. Contacting contaminated surfaces.

Two of the routes involve airborne transmission via respiratory droplets. But the size of droplets is highly variable, meaning that some settle on surfaces while others remain suspended in the air for longer periods of time. These smaller droplets, or aerosols, can consequently be carried further away from their source, expanding the radius of infection risk around an infected person.

How to Mitigate COVID-19 Risk with Air Filtration.

Read Camfil’s full recommendations here.

  1. Consider other pathogens and health risks. COVID-19 is not the only virus carried by respiratory droplets, but in the case of other, better-researched viruses, a 0.5-micron size aerosol particle is likely capable of containing a sufficient quantity of viruses to be considered a risk.

  2. Because of the variable size of potentially infected droplets, air filtration experts from Camfil USA recommend using systems and air filters that have a higher likelihood of capturing both droplets and aerosols that exist outside the social distancing zones before the contaminants make contact with healthy people. In other words, go with the highest efficiency air filter your HVAC system and budget can handle.

  3. Increase outdoor air ventilation so that the percentage of air recirculated is lower, as recommended by ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers).

  4. Evaluate exhaust air for possible re-entrainment and investigate natural ventilation as a means to dilute any virus particles.

  5. Implement different solutions for areas with different levels of risk. Experts from Camfil recommend an air filter rated MERV-15A or higher if possible for standard risk areas. Contact an air filtration expert for help finding the right solution for your specific needs.

About Camfil Clean Air Solutions

For more than half a century, Camfil worldwide has been helping people breathe cleaner air. As a leading manufacturer of premium clean air solutions, we provide commercial and industrial systems for air filtration and air pollution control that improve worker and equipment productivity, minimize energy use, and benefit human health and the environment. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Camfil has been applying their decades of experience in biosafety containment, healthcare, and other sectors of the air filtration industry to provide technological solutions for the public as well as in hospitals and healthcare facilities. To get in touch with a local Camfil consultant, please click here.

Media Contact:

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

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Thursday, January 7, 2021

The Role of Industrial Air Filters in Mitigating Outdoor Air Quality Issues

There is a direct relationship between outdoor and indoor air quality. When the quality of outside air gets worse, indoor air gets worse shortly afterward since air is drawn into buildings through HVAC systems. The good news is high-quality air filters can limit the amount of airborne contaminants brought into a building. Air filters can break the direct relationship between outdoor and indoor air quality.

As scientists, researchers, and clean-air experts continue to investigate the sources and solutions of harmful air pollution, more and more studies are addressing the link between Indoor Air Quality and Outdoor Air Quality.

While the link between these two concepts seems obvious at first glance, the result of the relationship between them plays a much larger role in human health than previously realized.

How Outdoor Air Pollution Can Affect Indoor Air Quality

Contaminants from dust to pesticides to construction debris can be small enough to linger in a region’s air for days, weeks and even months. Unfortunately, industrial air filters are then forced to contend with those contaminants and expected to remove more pollutants from the air supply than the filtration designs intended.

While industrial air filters might be effective in removing some of the contaminants, they are only a single component in a larger and more complex HVAC system that provides ventilation into a building.

There are plenty of ways for contaminated outdoor air to get inside the home or office. Poorly installed or undersized air filters are one obvious path, but even situations such as a cracked window or propped door can introduce outdoor air into the building. The return air ducts in the system circulate the air back to the filters, putting extra strain on the HVAC system in the process.

Why Air Filter Quality is So Important

In our modern era, things like fossil fuels, home heating, electric power generation, and motor vehicle exhaust can introduce a frightening amount of pollutants into the air, even in areas that are considered to be more rural. However, air pollution has likely been a problem for much longer than that, as wildfires and volcanic eruptions can also be the cause of dangerous air pollution.

The quality and performance of an air filter matter. Modern air filters are designed to be effective on a wide range of contaminants, but specialized air filters are available that address specific areas of concern.

Understanding the Importance of Indoor Air Quality

When air with any of these pollutants finds its way into a building, there is a risk those pollutants may be inhaled by the inhabitants and could result in health issues.

EPA Indoor Air Quality Standards

As ambient air pollution increases in developing parts of the world like China and India, the chances of a severe health crisis (Like the “killer fog” in London, 1952) are greatly increased. In areas with severe pollution and poor air filtration standards, indoor areas can be a health risk.

The creation and adoption of EPA indoor air quality standards are necessary to protect not only from indoor-exclusive pollutants, but also those found in the air around us.


About 

Camfil is the world leader in air filtration and clean air solutions, with 30 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 or call us toll-free at 888.599.6620.

 

Media Contact:

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

 

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