On March 11, 2021, Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce member Allen & Shariff Corporation sponsored a webinar on MEP Design to reduce airborne pathogens, specifically the COVID-19 virus.
David Van der Vossen, of Allen & Shariff, conducted this comprehensive and informative webinar. As businesses and organizations slowly pull out of the pandemic, methods to reduce pathogen spread in businesses and workspaces will be a key to returning employees to the workplace and driving back customer demand to retail and hospitality establishments.
Among areas the webinar covered was how to increase ventilation, outside air, in the workspace. The “flushing” of indoor air with outside air diminishes pathogens in that space. Mr. Van der Vossen discussed mechanisms for business owners to achieve this objective at a relatively low cost.
Increasing filtration by replacing air filters was also discussed. Standard commercial application air filters are rated at MERV 8 filters, typically filtering about 11% of airborne pathogens. Replacing the MERV 8 filters with MERV 13 filters effectively reduces airborne pathogens by as much as 71%. Mr. Van der Vossen added, “MERV 13 filters will likely be the new standard for indoor commercial and office spaces moving forward.”
UGVI (ultraviolet) systems, currently used in hospital settings, are also an effective tool in surface pathogen elimination and can be cost-effective for a business owner to install.
Other forms of virus eradication methods were discussed including Needle Point Bipolar Ionization, while relatively new as a tool, in double-blind studies it was found to be highly effective.
In the end, these sanitization measures are now going to be expected and, in some cases, required. Mr. Van der Vossen recommended engaging the experts in these technologies to find out which is best for your office or business setting.
For more information on how Allen + Shariff is helping reduce COVID-19 transmission rates, view their White Paper Series blog.
