The pandemic has created layers of challenges. For schools, the complication is figuring out how and when to reopen in a safe way. While technology has allowed classrooms to continue virtually, it is not without its own limitations. Plus, there are still a plethora of issues that need to be addressed as schools make plans to return to in-person instruction. For schools that have already returned to the face-to-face classroom setting, reopening has and will continue to lead to increased COVID-19 cases. What options are there to provide a safe and healthy educational setting for our children at all instructional levels? We believe school air purification is a good place to start.
Indoor air quality (IAQ) industry is perfectly positioned to answer this need. You have probably never questioned the quality of the air in your indoor space. However, indoor air quality upgrades provide much of the needed solutions to make communal spaces safer during and after this health crisis.
Active air purification systems are the ideal solution for schools. With whole-building air purification systems, classrooms and schools have an additional layer of protection and sanitation. This makes reopening plans easier.
Benefits Of Active Air Purification Systems in School Settings
Active air purification systems make schools safer in a couple of ways. The primary reason is that these devices help eliminate harmful air particles. COVID-19 spreads through respiratory droplets and aerosols, making the air we breathe a hazard.
Viruses travel for longer times and farther distances indoors because of poor air circulation. The spread of the virus is also dependent on the layout of a building or indoor space. This proves HVAC systems can affect the spread of COVID-19. HVAC’s role in health and safety has been proven before for the spread of other viral germs and bacterias. Thankfully, there are many IAQ solutions.
Whole-Building Air Purification
Whole-building active air purification systems are ideal because they are constantly working. By actively purifying the air that circulates through an indoor space, you get cleaner healthier air while it circulates.
Active air purification systems are game-changers. They seek and destroy viral particles using bi-polar ionization. They encourage air particles to clump together. The filter can trap the larger clumps, purifying the indoor air better. Even better, they clean surfaces–a major necessity in classrooms.
The device is installed directly into the school’s HVAC system. The purifier is constantly working for everyone’s benefit. As long as it’s running, the purifier is always creating cleaner air and surfaces.
We recommend whole-building systems over single-room for a number of reasons. Schools, colleges, and all education settings would benefit from a system that runs automatically with the HVAC system.
Single room air purifiers aren’t creating cleaner air until it’s been turned on. They also need to be placed in the center of the space to truly be effective.
Students and teachers need a system that works around the clock. Districts need an option that cost-effective and requires less maintenance.
Indoor Air Quality Solutions
School air purification systems are just one part of IAQ’s control solutions to help limit harmful bacteria and germs from spreading. For example, schools would also benefit from upgrading to higher-rated air filters–which is a great addition to purification systems. Whole–purification is one of the best and easiest upgrades for schools to consider to keep students and teachers safe indoors.
Active air purifiers cannot and should not replace other pandemic safety measures. Classrooms, face masks, and social distancing are still required to ensure safety and limit the spread of viruses like the novel coronavirus. Rather, upgrading a school’s HVAC system to include air purification is a great additional step to ensure safety and all occupants’ health.
Indoor Air Quality Upgrades Have Lasting Impact
In addition to helping fight the threat of COVID-19 and lessening the spread of viruses and bacteria in general–active air purification systems have a multitude of potential benefits for school and classroom settings.
For starters, air purification helps remove many types of harmful air pollutants, such as mold particles and dust mites that can trigger a student’s allergies. Additionally, it helps reduce the risk of asthmatic students experiencing major discomfort or having an asthma attack caused by air pollution.
Plus, school air purification systems could drastically reduce the spread of cold and flu season in classrooms. We don’t know what health and cleanliness standards will look like in a post-pandemic world. We do know air purification is a solution that helps now. Lastly, we know it will only improve in the future. Administrators, teachers, and students alike will have a more comfortable environment to learn and work in.
Pursuing IAQ Control
We’ve been talking about the importance of indoor air quality for years. Now it matters more than ever before. If you’re a concerned parent, teacher, administrator, student, or community advocate–indoor air quality should be a priority consideration. It should be a decision in both school’s current reopening plans, as well as ongoing plans to combat the virus. Ensuring a greater public understanding of IAQ control solutions can help health-wise is crucial. IAQ experts are trained and skilled to recommend upgrades that make communal spaces like schools cleaner.
