Filters Filtered
irborne pollution can have a devastating impact on people’s health and wellbeing. It has been shown to play a role in many life-threatening
diseases including cancer, asthma, stroke, heart disease, diabetes, obesity and even changes linked to dementia. This is a particular worry given that neither the
concentration limits set by government nor World Health Organisation (WHO) air quality guidelines define a level of pollutant exposure that is safe for the whole population. And the impact is not only felt on outside air. Indoor air pollution is a mixture of outdoor air entering a building and emissions from indoors. We need to care about this because we spend 90% of our time, on average, inside buildings and about half to three-quarters of indoor air pollution comes from outside. There are many sources of poor indoor air – volatile
organic compounds, formaldehyde, radon gas, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and pollutants from chemicals such as cleaning products and pesticides. Around one in five UK homes in the UK also suffers
with condensation and mould problems. It is not just a problem for new builds, as we build tighter and tighter, but it is a big problem in the millions of homes outside the building regulations in the UK – around 20 million homes. There are also countless more people in major cities working in offices, learning in schools and recovering in hospitals. In February 2016, a ground-breaking report was published by the Royal College of Physicians. ‘Every Breath We Take: The Lifelong Impact of Air Pollution’ sets out the dangerous impact air pollution is currently having on our nation’s health. As a result the report offers a number of major reform
proposals setting out what must be done if we are to tackle the problem of air pollution (see the box on right). One further practical step building services professionals can
www.heatingandventilating.net
expectations A
take is to boost building ventilation efficiency by incorporating effective filtration into its design and installation. Of course, filters that remove smaller particulate matter are critical to this, but larger pre-filters also play an important role in improving poor air quality. Fitting a pre-filtration screen fitted outside to the inlet
of HVAC plant and equipment such as air handling units acts as a sieve to capture larger airborne particulates such as leaves, dust and insects. Pre-filtration stops this larger particulate matter from entering the building and affecting people’s health. For example, it can prevent asthma by blocking pollen. But it also has a second important positive impact – it stops larger airborne debris from clogging up HVAC plant and equipment and ensures that the equipment continues to work at its optimum. One example of pre-filtration is the ECEX Air Intake
Screen (pictured below left) which protects, and may even enhance, the performance of the air conditioning and ventilation equipment that is responsible for guarding against pollutants. It does this by protecting chiller coils, air handling unit intake louvres and cooling towers which would otherwise be clogged by debris including leaves, pollen, insects and other airborne impurities. By preventing these from interfering with the performance of ventilation and AC plant, the Air Intake Screens can provide significant maintenance labour savings, energy savings and extend filter and equipment life. Available with standard and fine mesh grades to suit site-specific conditions, ECEX Air Intake Screens are quick to install as each one is made-to-measure. They come with 10-year warranties and 15+ years typical service life.
I
Filters play a significant part in ensuring indoor air quality is good. However, as John Grenville, managing director of ECEX explains, there is more than one type of air filtration
SIX PROPOSALS FOR BETTER AIR QUALITY
n a major report focusing on the health impact of poor air quality – ‘Every Breath We Take: The Lifelong Impact of Air Pollution’ – the Royal College of Physicians made a series of recommendations, including: • Put the onus on polluters. Political leaders at a local, national and EU level must introduce tougher regulations, including reliable emissions testing for cars. • Local authorities need to act to protect public health when air pollution levels are high. When these limits are exceeded, local authorities must have the power to close or divert roads to reduce the volume of traffic, especially near schools.
• Monitor air pollution effectively. Air pollution monitoring by central and local government must track exposure to harmful pollutants in major urban areas and near schools. • Quantify the relationship between indoor air pollution and health. We must strengthen our understanding of the key risk factors and effects of poor air quality in our homes, schools and workplaces.
• Define the economic impact of air pollution. We need further research into the economic benefits of well- designed policies to tackle poor air quality. • Lead by example within the NHS. The health service must no longer be a major polluter; it must set the benchmark for clean air and safe workplaces.
July 2018
www.heatingandventilating.net
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
