Indoor air quality plaguing our schools?

from School News NZ - Term 1 - 2022

by Multimedia AU/NZ

Underwater STEAM dream on the world stage

By Heather Barker Vermeer Industry Reporter

Eff ective ventilation has never been more of a necessity in schools.

While it is widely known that crowded, poorly aired classrooms are a breeding ground for germs that can cause many common illnesses, the advent of the soeasily transmissible Delta and Omicron variant of COVID-19 added a new layer of seriousness to the ventilate debate.

Schools quickly became a common sight on contact tracing lists around the world where these variants have dominated. In Aotearoa, children (0-19 years) in the 2021-22 Delta outbreak represented the largest proportion of COVID-19 cases at 37 percent. Large outbreaks have aff ected school communities, with the Marist College cluster generating 96 cases. Now, more than ever, to safeguard the health of your students and staff schools must pay strict att ention to the air quality indoors. “School aged children have greater susceptibility to some environmental pollutants than adults because they breathe higher volumes of air relative to their body weight, and their body tissue and organs are actively growing,” according to a recent research paper from the Ministry of Health titled, “Indoor Air Quality and Thermal Comfort”. “Children also spend more time in school than in any other environment except home. Indoor air quality is dependent on the concentrations of CO2 and other respiration derived pollutants, volatile organic compounds (VOC), particulate matt er and other pollutants such as formaldehyde.” Levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) rise as people breathe, where spaces are poorly ventilated, and research has linked CO2 levels to educational outcomes. ‘Indoor air quality and thermal comfort have a direct impact on the usability of the space and on learning outcomes.’ Prolonged exposure to poor air quality, wherein the CO2 levels exceed these levels can result in headaches, poor concentration, restlessness, nausea and sleepiness.

Research from the Ministry of Health suggests that normal urban atmospheric concentrations range from 450600 ppm. In most New Zealand classrooms, CO2 levels fl uctuate. The MoH paper further notes: “It is expected that the summer range of CO2 levels will vary from approximately 400 ppm to 1,000 ppm over the course of a day.”

Ventilation, when needed, can be provided naturally or mechanically. “Wherever practical, natural (passive) or semi-natural (passive) ventilation is preferred by the Ministry, provided minimum requirements in terms of pollutant control, and temperature level stability and control, are met.” What ventilation is suitable for each school will vary depending on a school’s size, occupancy, acoustics and more. Solely mechanical ventilation is suited to internal rooms or where acoustic requirements don’t allow for natural ventilation.

Not only can you maintain good indoor air quality by providing suitable ventilation but selecting low VOC building materials, ensuring a hygienic cleaning regime, and using entry/exit mats to capture dust and dirt before they are brought into the building.

It’s time to think about indoor air quality.

Install our UVC in your School.

AIR CONDITIONING SAMPLE BEFORE UVC

Makethe grade and breathe safely.

BENEFITS OF UVC:

Reduce staff & student absenteeism

99.9% + virus inactivation

Reduce carbon Emissions

Substantial Energy savings

Mitigate infection

AIR CONDITIONING CONDITIONING SAMPLE SAMPLE AFTER UVC AFTER UVC UVC. The Vaccine for your Air Con System.

info@airclimate-evolution.com. www. airclimate-evolution.com

“School aged children have greater susceptibility to some environmental pollutants than adults

Industry Interview:

School News talks to Air Climate Evolution representative, Simon Wilkinson

Simon spoke with us about the increased emphasis COVID concerns have caused schools to place on air quality solutions.

Q: What are some pros and cons to new air care technologies and/or systems for schools?

A: The cons are that, due to COVID, the market is fl ooded with products making claims of removing viruses from the air. However, buyer beware that many of the claims are unproven or tested only in a laboratory and not in a realworld application. Many of these products produce secondary harmful contaminants, or in the case of independently tested HEPA-fi lter units, their effi ciency on capturing particulates the size of aerosolised COVID-19 droplet nuclei or larger is signifi cantly less than the manufactures claims.

The pros are that new generation high output UVC technology is scientifi cally proven to inactivate virus, bacteria, and mould and available for retrofi tt ing into air conditioning systems or standalone options. Q: What is the recommended safe level of CO2 in the classroom and how can this be measured using technology? A: Typical guidelines look for 1000ppm or less. CO2 can be measured and monitored by a CO2 meter fi tt ed within the classroom. When levels increase, the only way is to purge the classroom air by introducing outside air through the air conditioning system, ventilation fans or opening windows. This can bring in outdoor air pollutants such as mould, bacteria, or VOCs. The introduced air can be treated by installing a high output UVC in the air conditioning system. Q: Are there scaled design options that can off er schools strength, safety and comfort year-round? A: Most school classrooms are air conditioned so the most cost-eff ective and performance proven solution is fi tt ing it with UVC technology to improve indoor air quality. This also has the potential to provide maintenance and energy savings, providing a genuine return on investment. If the classroom does not have air conditioning, then portable air purifi ers are available with high output UVC and high effi ciency fi lters. Due diligence is a must in all cases.”

Aranet4

– Simple indoor air quality monitor

Having fresh air indoors has always been a challenge but now with COVID-19 this task has become more critical than ever.

Thanks to Prof. Jose-Luis Jimenez, who is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Colorado and other prominent scientists we now know that COVID-19 is an airborne virus and it can remain in the air for several hours unless we ensure proper ventilation. Schools, kindergartens and universities are especially diffi cult to tackle as you have a closed room with multiple people talking thus releasing plenty of aerosols right into the air. If any of the students or the teacher has COVID-19, these aerosols become a highly probable vector transmitt ing the virus. The single most eff ective means to decrease this risk is proper ventilation. How to do that? While your average school might not have enough funds to invest in a high-quality ventilation system, procuring cost eff ective CO2 meters indicating when to open a window will greatly help with minimising the infection risk. A good example is Ventspils, a city on the western coast of Latvia. Its city council wanted to protect their children’s health and decided to install a networked CO2 meter solution in 19 of its schools and kindergartens. Aranet installed the equipment and integrated the Aranet Cloud data stream into their own system. They built a centralised view of all the schools and their maps as well as put up screens with animations in the classrooms alerting teachers when they need to open a window. In addition, they coached the school and kindergarten staff by sharing materials on the importance of indoor air quality and how to use the CO2 meters to ensure timely ventilation.

The impact of this initiative was immediate. Aft er seeing Aranet4 PRO device indicator turning red (i.e. CO2 concentration exceeded 1400ppm), the staff were able to quickly react and open the windows thus bringing the CO2 levels back to normal and ensuring a healthy environment for the children.

Aranet4 devices been on the front line fi ghting airborne COVID-19 in many schools around the world by alerting teachers and keeping classrooms safe. It is trusted by prominent institutions such as Harvard, Caltech and smaller local communities just like Ventspils.