Indoor Air Quality Upgrades
Exceeding CDC Recommendations:
New Indoor Air Quality Upgrades
Variant Refrigerant Flow (VRV/VRF) HVAC Systems, We Are Lucky!
Our building is rated as a two-star Austin Green Building for which we had to meet sustainability and healthy building standards accordingly to Austin Energy. Our Daikin Variable Refrigerant Volume (VRV) system was chosen as the premier efficient energy method. We made the decision to upgrade the HVAC system to Daiken’s VRV so that each individual office has its own thermostat necessitating the segregated fresh air directly from the outside roof units. Subsequently, having a direct air source is the optimal system to further our goal of mitigating the risk of COVID-19 in our community. We have not heard of another executive suites offices building having this technology; we are lucky!
More about the importance of fresh airflow:
According to research studies, ventilation systems have been reported as a way of transmission/spreading of infectious diseases such as measles, tuberculosis, chickenpox, influenza, smallpox and SARS. The VRF system improves indoor air quality by using up to 100% fresh airflow and ventilation directly to each office without recirculation of air from other spaces within the same system.
Li Y, Leung GM, Tang JW, Yang X, Chao CYH, Lin JZ, et al. Role of ventilation in airborne transmission of infectious agents in the built environment, a multidisciplinary systematic review. Indoor Air [Internet]. 2007 Feb;17(1):2–18. Available from: http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/j.1600-0668.2006.00445.x
CDC Scientific Brief: SARS-CoV-2 and Potential Airborne Transmission (Oct.5, 2020) https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/more/scientific-brief-sars-cov-2.html
The airflow path matters because air is the primary carrier of heat, moisture, contaminant, and airborne particulates in buildings. An adequate supply of outdoor air is essential to eliminating indoor pollutants, said Kishor Khankari, Ph.D., Fellow ASHRAE, president.
