Guest Commentator: David Wysmuller, PE, Vice President, Aftermarket, Dyna-Tech Sales Corporation @DynaTechSales
What are some best practices for reducing viral load with HVAC systems so businesses can stay open longer during the COVID-19 pandemic?
The global pandemic around COVID-19 has presented us with many social, health-related, and employment challenges. I am a professional mechanical engineer and quite frankly, do not have the expertise to help solve those issues. However, I have spent my entire career in HVAC design, which has now been shown to have the greatest ability to help reduce viral spread yet receives the least amount of attention from the media and our government.
Why are we looking to doctors to solve an aerosol-based danger?
Aerosolized viral particles are a primary contributor to how COVID-19 is contracted (and many other illnesses for that matter). The aerosolized virus, rather than being pulled down by gravity, caught by your nose hairs (yes, that is their purpose), or caught by facial coverings, acts like air and is pulled by air-currents and convection to all corners of an indoor space. Viral droplets are far less dangerous than aerosolized viral particles to humans in an indoor space due to the recirculation of the air within the space and the continued exposure of the person. For this type of viral spread, coughing and sneezing are much less concerning than being in a properly ventilated room.
Yes, ventilated room. Not 2-5 masks, UV lights, eye shields, or other gizmos. Ventilation is our #1 defense against COVID-19. The solution to pollution is dilution! Yet, where are the ventilation headlines? So many other items get ridiculous headlines, yet viral dilution is the key to getting us out of this pandemic…and possibly the next one!
There are other HVAC-related measures as well, including increased filtration, increased outside air dilution, UV, and many more. But simply opening windows, increasing outside air through your HVAC systems, and putting your HVAC fan on HIGH can move more air through your space and dilute virus-laden air. Why has this not been our #1 headline? The American Society for Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) published this data in August 2020 (although this information has been known for years, decades really). You can read their data here, which is geared towards schools and universities but is applicable to all indoor spaces.
It was not until February 2021 when the Philadelphia Department of Public Health lifted restaurant occupancy based on solely HVAC requirements. At the same time, they had been telling people to stay in their homes, where dilution via outside air is generally minimal to non-existent.
These restrictions that omit ventilation as a key solution for re-occupying public indoor space are not only close-minded, but they are killing jobs, destroying business owners, and deceiving the public. We can be indoors in public and office spaces today with proper ventilation.
I could go on for hours about the minutia, but we need to demand from our government-engineered legislation that reflects an appropriate level of mitigation, dilution, and cleanliness. “An abundance of caution” is a cop-out and really says, “I don’t care enough about your business to do the required research and consult all the experts.” Let’s get back to work!
Through Recharge & Recover PHL, the Chamber is working with our members to make Greater Philadelphia a digital community with increased digital literacy, technology, and internet use.
This objective is part of five aspirations of Recharge & Recover PHL with the aim to support not only Greater Philadelphia’s recovery but to also provide a means to differentiate our region for decades to come.
