As we continue to look for weapons to fight hospital-acquired infections (HAI), what does the standard for health care facility ventilation already contain in the way of health metrics? How would a study look if it focused on the one metric that drives so many other decisions in health care? Let’s explore.
Mold concerns became highlighted in the 1920s, when commercial and military needs for safe storage and transport of supplies focused attention on preventing biological deterioration of materials.
Hotels and other high-rise buildings can easily develop indoor humidity issues if they don’t deal properly with the outside air component of their ventilation design. Reclaiming waste heat in a way that suits the circumstances can be a pivotal step toward correcting or avoiding such problems. With a Chicago condo as one example, learn to work through assorted benefits and caveats to reach the right fix.
In a sense, HVAC engineers are the physicians of the built environment because IAQ and water management determine the growth and transmission of microorganisms.
While travelling in Europe to the Indoor Air 2016 conference in Belgium, I had the opportunity to discuss a largely unspoken shift in the management of IAQ with a like-minded colleague, Dr. Walter Hugentobler from the University of Zurich, Switzerland.
Ultraviolet C (UV-C) technology has been used since the 1990s to eliminate microbial buildup on cooling coils, air filters, duct surfaces, and drain pans. But despite the technology’s history and track record, some facility engineers remain uncertain. On the other hand, some come around quickly.
Good IAQ management has become paramount in the construction industry, as study after study shows that employee productivity and health are directly related to the quality of air being delivered inside the workplace environment.
In our daily lives, we humans move through a sea of microbial life that is seldom perceived except in the context of potential disease and decay (L. Feazel 2009).