On 13 March 2022, we hit the two-year mark since the first COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in Europe. In this time, we have seen business models changing due to the need to protect people’s health. We have seen various work practices take shape so businesses can run as “normal” as possible. The main reason for this change in work practices was the need to protect the health of staff and customers and hence to stop the spread of airborne viruses. As countries are removing mandatory restrictions and businesses are now looking to adapt to the “new normal” approach to the working environment, there are many different considerations that are needed to be taken.
Throughout the pandemic, we have learned a lot. One of the key lessons is the importance of indoor air quality and how it affects the health of people in a building. Before COVID-19, people would attend work with a common cold or flu symptoms. General viruses outbreaks were not even considered a risk as this was just the accepted practice. We accepted that a colleague could pass on the flu or a common cold and never considered how can we prevent this from happening. With the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses are now more aware that these missed sick days, loss of productivity and the health and wellbeing of their employees are critically important to their business.
Not only has a common understanding of the importance of air quality changed, but so have the air quality guidelines since the beginning of the pandemic. In September 2021, the WHO revised its guidelines for mean exposure levels for different airborne contaminants. This guideline ensured that Particulate Matter (PM) exposure was reduced with a core focus on the smallest particle levels. This step was taken to help create safer air we breathe. The 50 percent reduction in PM2.5 exposure levels was a clear sign that ensuring low particle level concentration was of the utmost importance to protecting our health.
So how does this affect the requirements for indoor air quality? Breathing clean air is not just a requirement for staff in your building, as there are now levels or thresholds in which you can aim to achieve. There are also new updated standards that guide you on what can be done to have the right air quality in your building. Eurovent 4/23, the recommendation from the Association for Indoor Climate, Process Cooling, and Food Cold Chain Technologies, has been updated to help allow building owners and operators to evaluate the right air filters based on their building function and location.
One of the questions we often get is “if I use the right air filter can I remove my mask in a building?” This is often a difficult question to answer as there are many factors you need to consider. If you are using the right filter you can be assured you are getting the right clean air into the building but the question around it is: “Is this enough air?” Or “how often is my air being changed?” And “what working practices are in place?” All of them still need to be answered. In the past, buildings have been designed with airtightness in mind to help achieve energy performance. The pandemic has shown that air movement and replacement are key to creating a safe work environment. Balancing these two key factors is going to be essential for the future. However, how can we move enough air and create enough air changes in a building while still achieving our net carbon zero ambitions?
Often this balancing act can be achieved. Companies can upgrade the air filters in their HVAC systems to achieve recommended efficiencies with much lower energy consumption for a small investment. This small investment is often recouped through building energy savings and reduced labour and waste costs. When it comes to creating additional air changes often huge expenses are envisaged as new HVAC installations could be recommended but plug-and-play HEPA air purifiers can be used to create the additional air changes in a room to help create a reduced risk environment. These units can range from €1,000 to €6,000 depending on the size of units and the number of air changes that need to be created.
The COSSH Hierarchy of Controls, which aims to prevent, or to adequately control, exposure to substances hazardous to health, so as to prevent ill health, says that as we start to remove restrictions we should still ensure our layers of protection are adhered to and removed one by one. To ensure a building is adequately protected without the use of masks, ventilation and filtration are key to supporting human protective protocols.
