VENTILATION
allowing a mix of fresh and recirculated air depending on the area function; for example clinical areas would demand fresh air, whereas in contrast administrative areas could work with recirculated air, and whereby the incoming air mix can be adjusted based on pollution levels.
Air pollution above WHO standards A 2018 report by the British Lung Foundation, Toxic Air at the Door of the NHS, revealed that 2220 GP surgeries and 248 hospitals in the UK are in locations with air pollution above World Health Organization Standards. Add to that the risk of airborne infection from crowded healthcare environments, and it is obvious that the need for effective management of air flow and air filtration is crucial within these heavily populated primary and secondary care settings. The Government is on board with improving air quality within healthcare settings, and in 2007 issued guidance on the design and validation of ventilation for healthcare systems by means of Health Technical Memorandum HTM 03-01. Such guidance can prove to be a bit of a headache to some contractors, who, while experts in their field, are unsure of the details, and understandably nervous about not meeting the grade.
HVAC manufacturers and suppliers to the healthcare industry have a responsibility to their clients, and need to be not only up to speed with the government guidelines, but one step ahead. For example, HTM 03-01 refers to the filter test standard, EN779, which was superseded in 2018 by the new global filter test standard, ISO 16890, but this isn’t reflected yet in the Government guidelines.
An air-handling unit that has been specified as HTM 03-01-compliant needs managing and monitoring at regular intervals to ensure its continued compliance.
Meeting compliance requirements It is not enough for manufacturers simply to supply ‘standard’ systems and hope that they will work. While the equipment that they supply may only comprise part of a much larger installation, and they are sometimes given challenging design briefs to work to, AHU suppliers are still responsible for ensuring that they meet compliance requirements. We need to go into healthcare environments to literally live and breathe (excuse the pun) the issues with air quality, both in terms of understanding the challenges on a general scale, and, more importantly, gaining the experience and insight to enable us to meet the design brief of the contractor, comply with government guidelines, and, ultimately, enhance the patient’s path to recovery.
As a manufacturer we need to be able to advise the contractor on selection, design an appropriate air-handling unit,
and give our confirmation that a unit supplied will be as compliant as possible, within the constraints of the enquiry presented. The end-goal for the manufacturer has to be to take the pain away from the contractor, provide a system that can stand up to rigorous use, and meet the government guidelines, not just at the point of installation, but for the plant’s full lifecycle.
One certificate is not enough Supplying an HTM 03-certified AHU is just one part of the service. Being HTM 03- compliant should be an ongoing commitment to providing quality air management to an environment that relies on it as part of its patient rehabilitation, and for the wellbeing of its medical team. Once installed and operational, of course, a building’s HVAC system is asked to do an awful lot – filter, cool, heat, humidify, dehumidify….with time and use the effectiveness and efficiency of any AHU will start to diminish. So what then? We all know that ‘prevention is better than cure’. When budgets are tight and choices have to be made, servicing the unseen AHU can often sit at the bottom of the priority list, but if that decision-maker could see the impact of this choice – on both the patient and the comparative cost of energy consumption of a unit that needs an upgrade – they might move it further up the list.
Air supply needs checking to ensure that it is both healthy and comfortable, and the units in general need an occasional bit of attention and care to ensure optimum performance.
62 Health Estate Journal October 2020
Regular managing and monitoring An AHU that has been specified as HTM 03-01-compliant needs managing and monitoring at regular intervals to ensure its continued compliance. Filters do need cleaning and changing from time to time to ensure that excessive dust from the outdoors isn’t being drawn into the building, which might impact on air quality and reduce air flow. Air supply needs checking to ensure that it is both healthy and comfortable, and the units in general need an occasional bit of attention and
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