How Air Ventilation Strategies Improve Comfort
Throughout the past two years, the importance commercial HVAC systems play in mitigating viral transmission has come top of mind. The ventilation system in your building plays a critical role in minimizing the spread of illness and maintaining comfort for occupants.
What Do Commercial Ventilation Systems Do?
Your commercial HVAC system serves many functions, including bringing in heated or cooled air to the different rooms of your building to maintain a comfortable indoor temperature, while also preserving the indoor air quality and keeping the air from becoming “stuffy.”
As part of the multi-layered approach to COVID-19, it is recommended to improve indoor building ventilation to reduce the spread of disease. Because the viral particles spread more easily indoors, their concentration is higher inside, which is where ventilation control strategies come into play.
How We’re Using Air Ventilation Strategies for Our Clients
Ventilation control strategies are key in increasing clean air within a building and diluting potential contaminants, and can include any variety of these tools to improve ventilation, as outlined by the CDC and compliantly carried out by Air Stream AC for our commercial HVAC clients:
- Have your outdoor air dampers opened beyond their minimum settings to reduce or eliminate HVAC air recirculating
- Open windows and doors when the weather allows you to, which will increase the outdoor air flow coming inside the building
- Implement the use of fans to further increase the effectiveness of any open windows
- Have your HVAC system rebalanced or adjusted to increase total airflow occupied spaces when possible
- Ensure restroom exhaust fans are functional and operating at their full capacity
For the complete list of the CDC’s recommendations for improving ventilation, click here.
Project Highlight: Maintaining Safe Air in Theaters through Ventilation Strategies
To help ensure theater-goers can return safely back to their favorite spots, we have worked with theaters to ensure their air is properly ventilated for the return of guests, using a three-step ventilation strategy:
Pre-Event
Before the audience arrives, we perform a pre-purge, where the building is flushed with fresh air, and the indoor air quality is brought back down to a normal level.
During Event
As more people arrive, it’s necessary to do a higher air purge throughout the event, which brings the air to a safer level.
Post-Event
After the event, an additional purge is performed, flushing the building with fresh air once again.
Protect the Comfort Inside Your Building
To ensure your building’s occupants and tenants are as safe and comfortable as possible as we continue to navigate not only the COVID-19 pandemic, but also cold and flu season, ventilation control strategies are an effective way to minimize risk.
For help creating your custom strategy, call (516) 747-4700.
