Some buildings, such as hospitals, grocery stores, and essential services have remained open during the pandemic. It’s critical that our essential workers be kept safe and comfortable.
Here are some recommendations from DMA:
- Increase outdoor air ventilation and make sure to run ventilating equipment continuously to provide air dilution.
- Increase air filtration to MERV-13 or higher and consider air purification depending on your system.
- Maintain relative humidity between 40 and 60%. In humid climates, mold formation is shown to start at 60%, below 40% viruses can travel further. While DMA is not located in a humid climate, it’s important to consider humidity in our area.
- Recommissioning your building automation system to verify that your system sensors are calibrated and operating parameters are set correctly.
More than ever, managing your HVAC is a contributing factor for safer air and operation, but the best way to stop COVID-19 in its tracks is social distancing and following guidelines laid out by the CDC, ASHRAE, OSHA, and local jurisdictions.
We understand this is a challenging time, so please reach out if we can help in any way. We’re here to ensure that you have the best knowledge, systems, and practices to optimize your buildings for health.
We want to make sure people have what they need to do the right thing in these uncertain times.