Room HVAC Influences on the Removal of Airborne Particulate Matter: Implications for School Reopening during the COVID-19 Pandemic

(1) Background: Many schools and higher education settings have confronted the issue of reopening their facilities after the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, several airflow strategies spanning from adding portable air purifiers to major mechanical overhauls have been suggested to equip classrooms wi...

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Autores principales:	Ali Mohammadi Nafchi, Vincent Blouin, Nigel Kaye, Andrew Metcalf, Katie Van Valkinburgh, Ehsan Mousavi
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	mechanical ventilation school reopening COVID-19 air quality contaminant control HVAC Technology T
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/53310ebdd5d147b4a14f8ed6d48f1a8b
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:53310ebdd5d147b4a14f8ed6d48f1a8b2021-11-25T17:25:45ZRoom HVAC Influences on the Removal of Airborne Particulate Matter: Implications for School Reopening during the COVID-19 Pandemic10.3390/en142274631996-1073https://doaj.org/article/53310ebdd5d147b4a14f8ed6d48f1a8b2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/22/7463https://doaj.org/toc/1996-1073(1) Background: Many schools and higher education settings have confronted the issue of reopening their facilities after the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, several airflow strategies spanning from adding portable air purifiers to major mechanical overhauls have been suggested to equip classrooms with what is necessary to provide a safe and reliable environment. Yet, there are many unknowns about specific contributions of the building system and its design and performance on indoor air quality (IAQ) improvements. (2) Methods: this study examined the combined effect of ventilation type, airflow rates, and filtration on IAQ in five different classrooms. Experiments were conducted by releasing inert surrogate particles into the classrooms and measuring the concentrations in various locations of the room. (3) Results: we showed that while the distribution of particles in the space is a complex function of space geometry and air distribution configurations, the average decay rate of contaminants is proportional to the number of air changes per hour in the room. (4) Conclusions: rooms with a central HVAC system responded quicker to an internal source of contamination than rooms with only fan coil units. Furthermore, increasing the ventilation rate without improved filtration is an inefficient use of energy.Ali Mohammadi NafchiVincent BlouinNigel KayeAndrew MetcalfKatie Van ValkinburghEhsan MousaviMDPI AGarticlemechanical ventilationschool reopeningCOVID-19air qualitycontaminant controlHVACTechnologyTENEnergies, Vol 14, Iss 7463, p 7463 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	mechanical ventilation school reopening COVID-19 air quality contaminant control HVAC Technology T
spellingShingle	mechanical ventilation school reopening COVID-19 air quality contaminant control HVAC Technology T Ali Mohammadi Nafchi Vincent Blouin Nigel Kaye Andrew Metcalf Katie Van Valkinburgh Ehsan Mousavi Room HVAC Influences on the Removal of Airborne Particulate Matter: Implications for School Reopening during the COVID-19 Pandemic
description	(1) Background: Many schools and higher education settings have confronted the issue of reopening their facilities after the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, several airflow strategies spanning from adding portable air purifiers to major mechanical overhauls have been suggested to equip classrooms with what is necessary to provide a safe and reliable environment. Yet, there are many unknowns about specific contributions of the building system and its design and performance on indoor air quality (IAQ) improvements. (2) Methods: this study examined the combined effect of ventilation type, airflow rates, and filtration on IAQ in five different classrooms. Experiments were conducted by releasing inert surrogate particles into the classrooms and measuring the concentrations in various locations of the room. (3) Results: we showed that while the distribution of particles in the space is a complex function of space geometry and air distribution configurations, the average decay rate of contaminants is proportional to the number of air changes per hour in the room. (4) Conclusions: rooms with a central HVAC system responded quicker to an internal source of contamination than rooms with only fan coil units. Furthermore, increasing the ventilation rate without improved filtration is an inefficient use of energy.
format	article
author	Ali Mohammadi Nafchi Vincent Blouin Nigel Kaye Andrew Metcalf Katie Van Valkinburgh Ehsan Mousavi
author_facet	Ali Mohammadi Nafchi Vincent Blouin Nigel Kaye Andrew Metcalf Katie Van Valkinburgh Ehsan Mousavi
author_sort	Ali Mohammadi Nafchi
title	Room HVAC Influences on the Removal of Airborne Particulate Matter: Implications for School Reopening during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_short	Room HVAC Influences on the Removal of Airborne Particulate Matter: Implications for School Reopening during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_full	Room HVAC Influences on the Removal of Airborne Particulate Matter: Implications for School Reopening during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_fullStr	Room HVAC Influences on the Removal of Airborne Particulate Matter: Implications for School Reopening during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_full_unstemmed	Room HVAC Influences on the Removal of Airborne Particulate Matter: Implications for School Reopening during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_sort	room hvac influences on the removal of airborne particulate matter: implications for school reopening during the covid-19 pandemic
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/53310ebdd5d147b4a14f8ed6d48f1a8b
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Room HVAC Influences on the Removal of Airborne Particulate Matter: Implications for School Reopening during the COVID-19 Pandemic

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