HVAC SYSTEMS
incorporating the technology in air- conditioning systems.
Effective ventilation can play a critical role in controlling airborne viruses in ventilated spaces. The UK’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Jonathan Van-Tam, has also stressed that: “There is a definite truism across all of the science literature, that ventilation is a most critical part of reducing transmissions for respiratory viruses.”
In the Unites States, ASHRAE (the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers) is actively working to help combat the transmission of COVID-19, and has created a taskforce to assess the effects of HVAC systems and the transmission of viruses in buildings, commenting that changes to a building’s operation could help reduce the risks of pathogen transmission.
Researchers’ advice
Researchers at the University of Oregon’s Biology and Built Environment Centre have conducted extensive studies, and outlined a number of steps that building owners can take to mitigate transmission and protect a building’s occupants – including exposure to ultraviolet light, which can reduce the ability of some viruses to survive. The American Society for Microbiology (ASM) has also been examining the built environment, and reported that UVC lamps can damage the DNA of bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens, reducing their ability to survive. Its paper, ‘Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic: Built Environment Considerations To Reduce Transmission’, published earlier this year, also outlined the effectiveness of UV light in the built environment.
Viral particles are small enough to pass through traditional high efficiency HEPA and Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) filters, with the Sars-CoV-2 particles between 80 Nm and 160 Nm (on average 0.1 microns) in size, but they can be targeted by air purifying devices. The American Society for Microbiology also
UV lamp radiation is shielded inside the unit; the ionisation effect takes place locally in the airflow managed by the FCZ-H.
suggests that light could be part of a mitigation strategy.1
Inadequate Indoor Air
Quality (IAQ) poses a risk to the comfort of a hospital’s occupants and their health.
Europe’s largest fan coil manufacturer
Aermec, a manufacturer of chillers, air- handlers, and heat pumps, is also Europe’s largest fan coil manufacturer. With manufacturing facilities just outside Verona in northern Italy, the company is all too aware of the effects of COVID-19, which has taken a toll on its country. For many weeks our TV screens were filled almost nightly with reports. Aermec recognised the need for a HVAC system that can provide comfort, but also sanitise the air, not just for hospital environments, but for any building. It responded by designing the FCZ-H – a dedicated range
of fan coil units that address hygiene concerns by sanitising the indoor air, helping to make hospitals and any other workplace as safe as possible. The units are also suitable for retrofits, depending on the spatial limitations.
Sanitising action
The FCZ-H can offer a solution that provides comfort, while the sanitising action of the photocatalytic system helps to limit the spread of infections. Based on Aermec’s flagship FCZ range of fan coils, the FCZ-H cooling capacities range from 0.8 kW to 8.6 kW, and heating capacities from 2 kW to 17.1 kW. The fan coil system combines quiet operation, low electricity consumption, and reliability, with the sanitising benefits of an integrated photocatalytic system. Numerous studies confirm the effectiveness of
Aermec’s FCZ-H fan coil unit. 98 Health Estate Journal October 2020
The FCZ-H’s UV lamp.
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