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Choosing the right air filter and filter media
BY BOB JACKSON, CAFS NORSPEC FILTRATION LTD. SARNIA, ON
Poor indoor-air quality (IAQ) is more than just a nuisance; it’s costly, too. Poor IAQ significantly influences the occurrence of communicable respiratory illnesses and allergies, asthma, and sick-building symptoms. Some of the airborne triggers for these illnesses include microorganisms, respirable particles such as dust and smoke, volatile organic compounds, and allergens.
In Canada, 5.7 million school children and close to one million teachers, administrators, and others walk into 15,000 school buildings every day – and at least 50 per cent of these schools have been diagnosed with indoor air quality problems.
Fortunately, many of these triggers can be eliminated or significantly reduced by the proper selection of air filters in a building's HVAC system. Advances in air filtration have led to the development of systems that provide superior IAQ while reducing energy costs and helping commercial and institutional buildings achieve greenbuilding milestones.
Air Filtration and IAQ
The average human breathes in about 16,000 quarts of air, which contain about 70,000 visible and invisible particles, each day. According to researchers, indoor air often is two to five times more polluted than outdoor air. Most of the respirable dust and other particles people breathe into their lungs is smaller than 10 microns in size.
Therefore, the first step in determining the best type of HVAC filter needed – and an important step in any IAQrelated building strategy – is to identify the types and sizes of particular pollutants in the building. Once problematic pollutants are identified, it is time to look at filter efficiency. Filtration efficiency is defined by how well a filter cleans indoor air by removing airborne particles. Low-efficiency filters – those
Air Filtration Specialists
