The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the need for optimal indoor air quality (IAQ) in schools and other academic settings.
Ensuring students and staff are confident in the air they breathe is essential, and studies have shown how buildings with enhanced IAQ increase health, happiness, and productivity.
IAQ assessment
Partnering with UL, the global safety science company, and SafeTraces, a pioneer in DNA-based safety technology, it delivers enhanced IAQ in schools with its OpenBlue IAQ as a Service solution.
The first step in the solutions process is an assessment of a school’s IAQ, ventilation, and infection control systems to determine areas of risk and where best to focus time, effort, and resources. Recently, Richmond School District, Sussex, Wisconsin, decided to have a free IAQ assessment performed, from which they benefited enormously.
The challenges
Without knowing a baseline or what product would be necessary, an IAQ assessment made the most practical sense
Why did Richmond School District feel the need for an IAQ assessment? Well, research on IAQ from the EPA states that 90 percent of the day is spent indoors. They were concerned that poor IAQ could increase student and staff illnesses, thus increasing absenteeism and reducing productivity.
Having recognized the additional risks of possible COVID-19 transmission and been flooded with emails on air regulation products, they wanted to look at proactive solutions for optimizing their IAQ.
Without knowing a baseline or what product would be necessary, an IAQ assessment made the most practical sense to them. They were also in need of replacing three of their rooftop units. They required guidance on what units would best fit their needs and felt an assessment would also help them meet that challenge.
The solutions
They appreciated the importance of problem-solving and assessing their options. However, factoring in budget constraints, finding the best IAQ solutions was essential to the school financially. Therefore, the IAQ assessment offered them the solutions they desired.
A detailed building date summary report was carried out, as was an HVAC systems inspection. Air quality testing took place for CO2, CO, PM2.5, temperature, relative humidity, NO2, SO2, O3, VOCs, airflow vectors, and air pressure differentials.
Cost-effective options
Additionally, a ventilation assessment was conducted, along with an infection risk assessment using DNA-tagged bioaerosols.
This IAQ assessment allowed them to see insightful and critical data in a comprehensive report, making it easy to address their options cost-effectively. Without that data, they could have jumped to inaccurate conclusions and assumptions.
The results
Recommendations such as adding an in-zone filter to clean the art classroom’s air and ventilation rates were verifiedHaving utilized the key data wisely, the school is more comfortable than before. They were able to pinpoint spaces where CO2 was consistently high or elevated.
Energy savings opportunities presented themselves, which offset the costs of improving their IAQ. Furthermore, recommendations were made, such as adding an in-zone filter to clean the art classroom’s air, and ventilation rates were verified.
Testimonial
“I believe that air quality is crucial to our staff and student. The CO2, air particles, energy efficiency, and airflow factors you would never be able to know without a formal IAQ."
"If a school has not had one or needs to replace any HVAC equipment, I would highly recommend this sooner than later," said Dr. Jeanne Siegenthaler, District Administrator, of Richmond School District.
