Recommended
Recommended
More Related Content
Similar to Indoor Air Quality-Wednesdays with Wightman-December 16, 2020
Similar to Indoor Air Quality-Wednesdays with Wightman-December 16, 2020 (20)
More from Jamie Balkin
More from Jamie Balkin (7)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
Indoor Air Quality-Wednesdays with Wightman-December 16, 2020
- 1. WEDNESDAYS WITH WIGHTMAN Town Hall Indoor Air Quality for Schools and How to Plan for a Safer School Environment
- 2. Icebreaker: In the chat box, on a scale of 1 (poor) to 10 (best) note how your school’s indoor air quality is perceived
- 3. WEDNESDAYS WITH WIGHTMAN, Facilitator George Kacan, AIA, REFP Education Sector Leader • Recognized Educational Facility Planner (REFP) • Architect • Client Representative
- 4. WEDNESDAYS WITH WIGHTMAN Town Hall A Town Hall for Best Practices in Education In these unprecedented times, superintendents face many challenges, of which they have never dealt with; this town hall provides a platform for superintendents to learn, become informed, ask questions, & share best practices…
- 5. WEDNESDAYS WITH WIGHTMAN Town Hall A Presentation & Discussion We will explore how to plan & pass a Bond Issue during this unprecedented time. Indoor Air Quality for Schools and How to Plan for a Safer School Environment
- 6. Introduction of Dr. Thomas Langdon Part-time Superintendent/Mentor Walkerville Public Schools • Educational Consultant • MASA Past-President • MASA Executive Board Member • Served on National Education Committee • Served on Region VII Legislative Committee
- 7. Introduction of Mr. Douglas Lafever Application Engineer, President of Upgrade~Evolve • 30 years experience in multidisciplinary engineering • 2011 Recognized as a Legend in Energy • 15 years Building Automation programming experience • Certified programmer by seven automation manufacturers
- 8. Indoor Air Quality for Schools and How to Plan for a Safer School Environment
- 9. WEDNESDAYS WITH WIGHTMAN Town Hall AGENDA Indoor Air Quality Standards for schools and other buildings Present situation of Outdoor Air quality for the 21st Century The financial and economic impact of the pandemic on IAQ and IEQ in schools Three guiding principles to Upgrade and Evolve your school the highest affordable IEQ
- 10. Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) refers to the air quality within and around buildings and structures, especially as it relates to the health and comfort of building occupants. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- 13. Indoor air is typically 2-5 times more polluted than outdoor air U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- 16. WEDNESDAYS WITH WIGHTMAN Town Hall TAKEAWAYS ASHRAE standards are utilized by USBGC in the LEED program and even “enhanced” School HVAC design does not currently include active humidification during winter months Some heat recovery technology retains a percentage of moisture from the exhaust and sends it back into the building There are only recommended practices for the pandemic and not code changes-yet. The greater the fresh air requirements for a building the greater the energy used to process that air
- 17. NATURE IS NURTURE ~ Douglas Lafever
- 21. I go to nature every day for inspiration in the day’s work ~ Frank Lloyd Wright
- 24. WEDNESDAYS WITH WIGHTMAN Town Hall TAKEAWAYS Filtration level Merv 11 when applied to schools reduces VOCs, allergens, dust, reduced PM2.5 and other urban air pollutants Spending time outdoors in non urban environments is one of the healthiest choices you can make for long term wellness Urban areas near high traffic are the last choice to spend time outdoors World average CO2 level is measured in Hawaii in the middle of the Pacific Humans have always been exposed to dust and allergens, however, they can become concentrated indoors if proper ventilation is not
- 25. PRE-FILTER COLD CATALYST IONIZATION TRUE HEPA 99.97 NANO-SILVER ANITBACTERIAL MOLECULAR SIEVE ACTIVATED CARBON PROPRIETARY INDOOR AIR CLEANER DIRTY CLEAN
- 32. • Adding room air cleaners - effective but at $800.00 per room it costs more than a whole building HVAC improvement. It is the expensive and fast “shotgun” approach. this adds noise to the learning environment. • Adding room humidifiers- effective but will be very labor intensive to maintain the distilled water refills and cleaning chores. these units must be disinfected periodically. Dry ultrasonic atomizers are not recommended. • Duct cleaning- recommended for air delivery systems with external insulation- always a good choice. Common practices for schools
- 33. • Cleaning and disinfecting the internal components of the main air handlers. - low cost and recommended annually in summer. • Improving the filtration module in the air handler to reduce bypass and leaks.- low cost and effective. Also, opportunity to train staff and higher level of attention to equipment. • Upgrading filtration media. - For many this will require and engineering review to ensure the unit performance is not degraded to a point of causing damage to the unit. • Adding electronic air cleaning to reduce bacterial and virile transmission through ducts. Common practices for schools
- 34. Cleaning of return air grills and supply diffusers should be completed annually to reduce the build up of dust mites All air cleaning methods must be accurately designed and connected to BAS systems with careful attention to historical quality, testing credentials, and application details- this is not a “shotgun” solution Chasing energy reduction is the lever that improves accuracy of IAQ, reduced operating costs, and improved overall IAQ 3 Guiding principles from UE for improved air quality
- 35. References • Far-UVC light (222 nm) efficiently and safely inactivates airborne human coronaviruses by Manuela Buonanno, David Welch, Igor Shuryak & David J. Brenner ✉ • PECO Technology Review White paper :Authors: Dr. D. Y. Goswami, Chief Scientist of Molekule & Dilip Goswami CEO of Molekule • ASHRAE 62.1 -2016 • Air particulate matter and cardiovascular disease: the epidemiological, biomedical and clinical evidence. Dr. Junhong Wang. Department of Gerontology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China.
- 36. Vitamin D: The “sunshine” vitamin Rathish Nair and Arun Maseeh © Journal of Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapeutics Vitamin D insufficiency affects almost 50% of the population worldwide. An estimated 1 billion people worldwide, across all ethnicities and age groups, have a vitamin D deficiency (VDD). This pandemic of hypovitaminosis D can mainly be attributed to lifestyle (for example, reduced outdoor activities) and environmental (for example, air pollution) factors that reduce exposure to sunlight, which is required for ultraviolet-B (UVB)-induced vitamin D production in the ski
- 37. Mr. Douglas Lafever WEDNESDAYS WITH WIGHTMAN Town Hall Dr. Tom Langdon Mr. George Kacan
- 38. Synthesis: WEDNESDAYS WITH WIGHTMAN Breakout Rooms Indoor Air Quality for Schools and How to Plan for a Safer School Environment 1. What has your organization done to improve your indoor air quality in response to the pandemic? 2. Is your organization planning improvements of HVAC systems or IAQ in response to the pandemic or other circumstances? 3. What are your top three priorities for facility improvements in the next 5 years?
- 39. Wightman thanks you & we are here to help. Next Town Hall, January 20, 2021, at 1:00 PM If you have additional questions, please contact us at info@gowightman.com Synthesis: WEDNESDAYS WITH WIGHTMAN Today’s Town Hall Recap Indoor Air Quality for Schools and How to Plan for a Safer School Environment 1. What has your organization done to improve your indoor air quality in response to the pandemic? 2. Is your organization planning improvements of HVAC systems or IAQ in response to the pandemic or other circumstances? 3. What are your top three priorities for facility improvements in the next 5 years?
- 40. Contact Wightman at info@gowightman.com Synthesis: WEDNESDAYS WITH WIGHTMAN Guest Contact Information Douglas Lafever, Application Engineer (513) 800-0465 homefarming@gmail.com ievolve.guru
- 41. WEDNESDAYS WITH WIGHTMAN Town Hall
- 42. DOUGLAS LAFEVER- UPGRADE EVOLVE CONSULTING INDOOR AIR QUALITY FOR SCHOOLS AND HOW TO PLAN FOR A SAFER SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT. PRESENTER
Editor's Notes
- Sit on this slide while waiting for people to enter
- Greg – Icebreaker & chat box practice
- George – introduces himself as the WwW facilitator for today's Town Hall Meeting, Education Sector Leader
- Greg – introduces purpose of the Town Hall Meetings
- Greg – introduces panel discussion topic Focus on what is happening during the pandemic and how we can use what we have learned to improve our food service environment Becoming and remaining an agile School Foodservice operation in the Post-Pandemic World
- George – Introduces Tom Langdon
- George – Introduces Tom Page
- Greg – introduces School Foodservice in the Post-Pandemic World .
- Greg – introduces purpose of the Town Hall Meetings
- Read definition
- Two organizations set most air quality codes or construction standards. ASHRAE- American Society Heating and Refrigeration Engineers USGBC- United States Building Green Council The USGBC is a voluntary standards organization that administrates the LEED construction program and adopts the ASHRAE standards for HVAC systems and IAQ to LEED criteria. USBGC often increases the amount of fresh air over the more conservative ASHRAE standards. However, ASHRAE fresh air standards are much more robust than ever before-to the point that meeting the energy code requirement and the fresh air requirement is very difficult.
- ASHRAE Standard Indoor Air Quality part 62.1 currently specifies that each occupied zone meet the following requirement of minimum of 30% RH to 55%RH and the Human Comfort Index is used to calculate the cooling and heating energy required for thermal comfort to a typical 65 ºF to 75ºF . This information is used along with local weather history for design criteria of the HVAC equipment. Once credible mechanical equipment and ducting are installed a Building Automation overlay is installed to operate the school. Sadly, the bulk of the BAS industry is not keeping up with codes and design requirements. Before we began to build new requirements for IAQ during our pandemic our building automation industry was going through a revolution of basic product performance issues and challenges related to energy performance and user operation. For example, when digital controls were created in the late 1980’s using 8 bit processors a BAS operator could map every motor to an hourly run time counter thereby tracking every hour of operation and use this information to better time preventative maintenance. Today with 32 processor technology roughly 10% of systems are delivered with runtime tracking and many BAS systems do not allow the operator to add this to the existing displays. While having some powerful digital tools and advanced features the distance between the product leaders and the tailing end is even greater than ever. BAS providers currently lack the depth of programming and engineering management needed to adapt to the needs of the industry.
- Asthma, allergy attacks, MCS are most likely to occur inside buildings rather than outside yet outside air can be polluted as well.
- According to the EPA the indoor air is 2-5 times more polluted than outdoor air. These pollutants include dust mites, VOCs like formaldehyde, chlorines, pesticides, and more. Other pollutants include mold, bacteria, viruses, and dust. Most schools are currently using MERV 8 filtration to trap particles down to 3 microns. Viruses are less than a micron in size. When we use more fresh air we recirculate less air from inside the building. While fresh air codes require approximately 12-15 cubic feet per minute per person in occupied in schools built after 2001-depending upon your local codes. However, the more fresh air, the higher the energy cost. Keeping the energy costs down while ventilating with the greatest amount of fresh air is the challenge. One of the challenges for keeping a building at a comfortable level in the winter keeping moisture in. While using forced air systems Hospitals use active steam humidification supplied by massive boiler plants to add moisture to the forced air stream sent to the occupied spaces. This is a significant energy cost and has not , historically been part of school design. Heat recovery technology is just one of the ways we have used to recover the heat energy and moisture that would normally be exhausted. However, this technology can only recover so much moisture and heat recovery is still going through its evolution. IAQ codes are set to provide the maximum CFM of fresh air per zone at all times. IAQ can also be measured by active carbon dioxide sensing. This technology allows us to manage the the fresh air damper to respond to the CO2 being expelled by the actual occupant population. As activity increases ,CO2 increases through increased respiration. CO2 not only reduces over ventilation and saves energy but also responds minute by minute to the respiration needs of the occupants. ASHRAE has set acceptable IAQ all the way up to 1200 PPM for schools but many recommendations and bulletins from the EPA, the WHO, to voluntary educational organizations have recommended IAQ settings between 700 and 800 PPM. Now the recommendations during our pandemic is set the CO2 levels equal to outdoor ambient air -or set the fresh air dampers to 100% open. This is problematic because most HVAC systems are not designed to handle the moisture and temperature loads of 100% outdoor air at all seasonal conditions. If fresh air dampers are set to be open to 100% during building operation the following will occur Maintenance on the unit will increase dramatically Moisture control above ambient temperatures above 75 degrees will be unreliable Energy expense will increase significantly Breakdowns will occur most often in DX units Minimum required indoor air temperatures will not be maintained in sub freezing weather . HEPA filtration has been recommended for an alternative for fresh air filtration but would not be required when the unit is expelling all of its return air. Increasing MERV filtration levels above equipment manufacturers recommendations does improve filtration quality but will also degrade heating, cooling, dehumidification, and fresh air volume delivered by the unit. Modifying existing HVAC systems and buildings to the recommended requirements of this current pandemic is problematic if not approached with experience, pragmatism and without rushing. more on this later..
- Heat recovery technology is just one of the ways we have used to recover the heat energy and moisture that would normally be exhausted. However, this technology can only recover so much moisture and heat recovery is still going through its evolution. IAQ codes are set to provide the maximum CFM of fresh air per zone at all times. IAQ can also be measured by active carbon dioxide sensing. This technology allows us to manage the the fresh air damper to respond to the CO2 being expelled by the actual occupant population. As activity increases ,CO2 increases through increased respiration. CO2 not only reduces over ventilation and saves energy but also responds minute by minute to the respiration needs of the occupants. ASHRAE has set acceptable IAQ all the way up to 1200 PPM for schools but many recommendations and bulletins from the EPA, the WHO, to voluntary educational organizations have recommended IAQ settings between 700 and 800 PPM. Now, the recommendations during our pandemic is set the CO2 levels equal to outdoor ambient air -or set the fresh air dampers to 100% open. This is problematic because most HVAC systems are not designed to handle the moisture and temperature loads of 100% outdoor air at all seasonal conditions. If fresh air dampers are set to be open to 100% during building operation the following will occur Maintenance on the unit will increase dramatically Moisture control above ambient temperatures above 75 degrees will be unreliable Energy expense will increase significantly Breakdowns will occur most often in DX units Minimum required indoor air temperatures will not be maintained in sub freezing weather . HEPA filtration has been recommended for an alternative for fresh air filtration but would not be required when the unit is expelling all of its return air. Increasing MERV filtration levels above equipment manufacturers recommendations does improve filtration quality but will also degrade heating, cooling, dehumidification, and fresh air volume delivered by the unit. Modifying existing HVAC systems and buildings to the recommended requirements of this current pandemic is problematic if not approached with experience, pragmatism and without rushing. more on this later..
- Greg – introduces purpose of the Town Hall Meetings
- Fresh air is good for you. A study by Joseph Allen , Dir of Healthy Buildings Program at Harvard University published in Environmental Health Perspectives tested and proved that lower VOC & C02 level classrooms in an educational building resulted in a 101% cognitive improvement in students 30 minutes after relocating to low CO2 spaces from conventional higher CO2 spaces. For the rural school outdoor time is very healthy For urban schools the best time for healthy outdoor time is early in the morning before ozone, CO2, and PM2,5 levels build in the environment
- When we think about the outdoor environment we go this direction in our mind. The air quality can be amazing in the forest. Outdoor air is the reference for fresh air for most environments except computer clean rooms and operating rooms where particulates are reduce to near zero. Still, want places in the world the particulate count is equal or better than an operating room. Vitamin D levels among adults and children alike are chronically low for a least 30% of the US population. We are just finding out how vitamin D plays a role in cellular health in more ways that we can count. The best way to get it is getting outside while enjoying the fresh air. More and more studies link outdoor play time with healthy childhood development. long term eye health is requires exposure to both UV A (315- 400 nm) and B (280-315 nm) which both nourish eye tissues. Proper hormone production depend upon regular sunlight exposure which require at least partial time exposure to unfiltered light to the eyes. Yet the National Human Activity Pattern survey has revealed to us that humans live 90% indoors and are suffering for it.
- Getting clean air and sunshine is good for us and the younger we are exposed to potential natural allergens the less likely we will suffer from allergies and asthma. While the majority of schools are in rural areas ,many are in urban areas. THis is doubly difficult as urban areas comprise the highest concentration of air pollutants sampled. PM 10, PM5, PM 2.5 , and ozone are all hazards of the urban environment. Indoor environments can protect us from excessive dust, pollens, allergens, and provide clean comfortable spaces were we can focus on instruction, testing, and socialization. Indoors and out one of the concerns for us all is the rising level of ambient CO2
- For all of us CO2 levels are rising and that means less available oxygen for our bodies. Until we reverse this course the indoor environment will be tasked even harder to meet fresh air requirements. That means more energy to to process and dehumidify and filter the outdoor air. The 2020 ASHRAE recommendation is for flooding buildings with as much fresh air as is good for improved immunity and the reduction of exposure to virile agents.
- Fresh air is good for you. A study by Joseph Allen , Dir of Healthy Buildings Program at Harvard University published in Environmental Health Perspectives testes and proved that lower VOC & C02 level classrooms in an education green building resulted in a 101% cognitive improvement in students 30 minutes after relocating to these spaces from conventional higher CO2 spaces. For the rural school outdoor time is very healthy For urban schools the best time for healthy outdoor time is early in the morning before ozone, CO2, and PM2,5 levels build in the environment
- PM2.5 are volatile organic compounds that are so small they go through the lung tissue and into the bloodstream. Many environmental studies point to a direct correlation of the rise of PM2.5 levels increasing heart attacks in urban areas. One of the greatest contributors to atmospheric PM 2.5 is the internal combustion engine.
- Greg – introduces purpose of the Town Hall Meetings
- Air and water a similar that they can absorb or carry many pollutants. Air can carry away many pollutants and we are thankful for it. However, we are at a tipping point of creating so much pollution that the planet’s self cleaning systems are becoming exhausted. Where we live also has a bearing on stagnant or persistent air pollution This is a drawing of one of the newest home air filtration systems. School HVAC systems do not include all of this technology due to the fact that many of theses types of filtration technologies are new and are expensive. However, a MERV 11 filter can do the work of many of these methods.
- This is a room air cleaner from a school I inspected recently. If you do not clean your electronic air cleaner what good is it?
- MERV 11 filtration may be an inexpensive upgrade that will not degrade the HVAC performance. Considering that MERV 8 traps less than 20% of pollutants from 1.0 to 3 microns moving to MERV 11 may be a practical solution for it traps up to 65% minimum. Potential impacts are low/no performance impact on air handlers. Increased cost of filtration. Possible minor modification to unit filter racks. Slightly higher energy use
- Many new methods of plasma, ozone making and ionization products are available now and use accelerated oxidation to kill living organisms. Many create ozone that bonds to cells walls and kills them while creating ionized particles that help the organisms flocculate and be easily captured by mechanical filtration
- These ionizer devices are made small enough to put in individual home furnaces and room units. This one retails for about $600.00 the previous photo of the duct mounted device for commercial air handlers for about $5000.00 There are many choices, however, careful attention to integration into the unit controls can often be erroneous reducing effectiveness, causing indoor air pollution, and reducing life of the air cleaner itself.
- Part of the light spectrum is invisible to the human eye and part of that invisible spectrum is ultraviolet (in the purple spectrum) light. Research over time has taught us that UV light waves of the 200-280 nanometer wavelength will kill germs. While studies do not exist to show that UV lights kill germs in duct work we know with empirical data that if built and applied correctly, they can. How do we know these are manufactured and applied correctly?
- Installing UVC lamps in HVAC systems will do the job if: The lamps are truly UV C band 200-280 nanometers and sized to the ducting and air flow rate properly Bulbs are maintained by keeping the clean and keeping the power supply from degradation. Variable power output may need to be controlled in conjunction with the unit fan speed. Careful operation through the building operation system is necessary. Initial cost is not that high and these can be added over a few years While there are no studies for HVAC showing the actual results that these work, we do know equivalent systems are used in hospital laboratories for daily sterilization, etc. UV sterilization is fret with poor application practices and must be looked over closely
- This slide to be visible during the Panel discussion Panel discussion with Tom as Moderator
- Greg - Summarize meeting, findings, & inform participants we will post findings in next our next newsletter Thank participants & invite to next meeting focused of student mental health
- Greg - Summarize meeting, findings, & inform participants we will post findings in next our next newsletter Thank participants & invite to next meeting focused of student mental health
- Greg - Summarize meeting, findings, & inform participants we will post findings in next our next newsletter Thank participants & invite to next meeting focused of student mental health
- My name is Douglas Lafever and I am an interdisciplinary engineer and I like to break through limitations and barriers. I want to thank all of you for joining us today and I want to especially thank Greg Monberg and George Kacan of Whightman and Associates for inviting me to share my insights and experiences and for their forward thinking and commitment to excellence.