Blog Tag: indoor air quality

We always dream of laying on a sunny beach somewhere watching the light, tropical breezes blow through the palm trees. For some reason the movement of air through the trees or fields of wheat or tall grass creates a sense of calm and peace. Yet strong, cold winds blowing off snow or water into our face creates shear misery.

Producing wind or air movement via the use of various types of fans has been around since the early 1900’s. With the invention of the small, electric motor fans became more popular and the preferred way to provide cooling for people, animals and machines. As the design of fan blades, motors and digital controllers improved, fans found their way into the majority of homes, offices and schools.

With the ability to control fan speed and direction, ceiling fans are now the preferred method of moving air to keep it from becoming stale or stagnant. In addition, the fans aid in moving cool and warm air through various rooms in the house in the summer and winter months. However, aside from moving air and adding some comfort, fans also create some environmental issues that should be considered.

When a ceiling fan or box fan is moving air in a room or large area is it also moving any of the airborne particulate that is suspended in the air. While sometimes this can aid in keeping the dust airborne until it is picked up by the return air ducts and then filtered in your HVAC unit, this constant dispersal of dust also keeps it up in the breathing zone.

For people with allergies due to dust, pollen, ragweed, animal dander, dust mite feces, etc, running a ceiling fan may not be in your best interest. The airborne contaminants are extremely small and light and easily picked up off the floor, furniture and other flat surfaces and then redeposited on other surfaces, including beds and sofas.

When dusting or running a vacuum it may be a good idea to turn off all the fans. No matter how good a dusting cloth or how efficient the a vacuum, the process of cleaning will always disturb some of the dust. Even with HEPA filters, good vacuums will discharge a fair amount of small, sub-micron particles into the air while cleaning the carpets and floors. Again, the fans will just put this residual dust back on the same surfaces you just cleaned.

Pure Air Systems has been making HEPA and Carbon based fan powered air filtration systems since 1985. They have a complete line of systems that can be either attached to an existing HVAC system or used as stand alone units. In addition, PAS offers a line of portable HEPA units that can be used for single room or large area applications. For more information please go to our website at: www.pureairsystems.com

You can’t go anywhere or read any newspaper, magazine, billboard or internet material without the term “Green” being used. And we are not talking about the mixing of blue and yellow to get the color green….we are talking about the save the planet, save the environment, save you life (through healthy practices) green.

Whether you agree or not, green is in……WAY in. The concept of using green as a way to sell products is now being used by almost every product manufacturer in the US and overseas. There is no doubt that the use of non bio-degradable chemicals and materials has become a very large problem. Companies that produce household cleaning products, for instance, have changed the formulas to ensure that all the chemicals used in the product are non-toxic, safe and biodegradable. Even the containers have been changed to be ‘landfill safe.”

For those individuals who suffer from various allergies, asthma, chemical sensitivities and respiratory dysfunctions, going green can significantly improve your indoor air quality.

For those individuals who have certain chemical sensitivities there are products for washing floors, clothes, counter tops, bathrooms and yourself that no longer have any chemical smell and are not artificially scented. Cooking utensils, small appliances, chairs, tables, etc,  are now made of materials that don’t use petroleum as a base chemical. Bedding, pillows, curtains, covered furniture, carpeting and clothing is now made with natural fibers and are  hypo-allergetic.

For those individuals who like plants in the house but also suffer from allergies due to pollen, ragweed and certain mold spores, there are new artificial plants ( greenery) that look real, feel real and are attractive. Real plants need to be potted in dirt or special soils and require plant food. Also, they require water. While it may not seem to be a problem, there are numerous natural mold spores that live and thrive in the soil and can be an issue with certain allergy sufferers.

There are also new ways to heat, cool and reduce humidity in your home while saving energy and providing for a more comfortable, healthy environment. There are now “smart” heating/cooling systems that can more accurately and more efficiently heat and cool your home and maintain a more comfortable moisture level no matter where you live.

Some of the newer light bulbs and lighting systems are designed to provide for a softer, more indirect form of lighting to minimize the glare, eye strain and headaches caused by too much of the wrong type of light. These light bulbs and systems use up to 50% less energy than the standard lights and are fast becoming standards in many countries around the world.

Going green has been the basic mantra for Pure Air Systems since its inception in 1985. Pure Air Systems was green when green was only a color. PAS manufacturers a line of HEPA and Carbon based air filtration systems that use all metal housings, commercial grade metal framed HEPA filters, non-toxic carbon media and the ECM motors that use magnets rather than windings to both use less electricity and produce less ozone.

For more information on the complete line of air filtration products offered by PAS please go to our website at: www.pureairsystems.com

For many of us dealing with the the typical spring and fall allergy seasons is a given. We know that mother nature can be both beautiful and nasty in the spring when the flowers are blooming and the grass is growing. There are many new medications that help in minimizing the allergic reactions and even allow us to venture outdoors on days when the pollen and ragweed levels are high.

However, for people who are chemically sensitive, the physical affects are not that easily relieved. Chemical sensitivities is somewhat of a grey area. Many chemically sensitive people don’t have a challenge with pollen or ragweed but can react to common household chemicals like bleach or even scented candles. And unlike the common symptoms of pollen and ragweed sufferers, the chemically sensitive individuals may have more severe reactions that include inability to breathe, skin rashes, metal tastes in their mouth, headaches, muscle aches, blurred vision and spatial disorientation.

For people who have these chemical sensitivities their lives are literally dictated by how well they can control the environment in which they live, work and play. The elimination or reduction of items in the home is relatively easy for the chemically sensitive individual.  Trial and error is the best guide. But, once they venture outside their chemically controlled environment they are at the mercy of the outside world of chemical soup.

To the chemically sensitive individual, the term fresh outside air is a misnomer. Their outside consists of automobile and truck exhaust fumes, chemical odors from manufacturing and processing operations and the spraying of fertilizers and pesticides in residential, farming and commercial areas.

When they go to work, they are subjected to a wide variety of chemical odors and gases. Their co-workers after shave or cologne. The chemical odor from clothes that are dry cleaned. The gases given off by copiers, printers and office supplies. The list goes on and on.

Being inside any gym, or work out facility presents similar challenges as does attending indoor sporting events where even the odors and gases coming from the concession stands can be significant issues. To the chemically sensitive individual home is usually their only safe haven.

Unlike the pollen or ragweed sufferer who can take one of the many over the counter medications that minimize or eliminate the “hay fever” type symptoms, the chemically sensitive individual has no such magic bullet. They simply need to totally eliminate from their environment those chemicals to which they are sensitive.

Since 1985 Pure Air Systems has been making HEPA and Carbon based air filtration systems for the residential, commercial, institutional and industrial markets. PAS was one of the first companies to offer Carbon adsorption systems for people with chemical sensitivities. Some of these carbon products were specially treated to remove specific gaseous compounds and most we designed to be benign to the customer.

For more information on the complete line of HEPA and Carbon systems and detailed information on the removal or reduction of various airborne chemical gases please go to our website at: www.pureairsystems.com

While many of us have often complained about our jobs, employers and co-workers being difficult to deal with, most people don’t associate their place of employment as the root cause for making them ill or sick.

Back in the 1980’s the term “sick building syndrome” was coined and it related to the fact that the indoor air quality in many commercial, institutional and industrial buildings was so poor that many of the employees developed allergies, respiratory issues and even asthma from long term indoor exposure.

After a lot of study it was determined that some of the main causes for the poor indoor air quality were lack of ventilation and/or amount of fresh air and the chemicals that were being off gassed from the building materials and office equipment. In addition, many of the office sections that were attached to  manufacturing sections were down wind of the contaminants being produced by the manufacturing processes.

Many employees sued their employers and building owners and managers and made the building and mechanical engineers aware that this IAQ problem was significant. As a result of the employee fire storm a number of changes were made by both ASHRAE ( American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers) and BOMA (Building Owners and Managers Association) for new construction of buildings. These new changes; both in building materials and HVAC modifications, made some significant headway in maintaining a healthier, safer work environment.

Some of these changes included adding more outside air through the economizers located in the HVAC air handling units, better heating/cooling comfort level controls and better ventilation for office equipment such as printers, copiers and fax machines. These changes went a long way to making significant improvements in the work environment. Then came 9/11 followed by the current economic meltdown.

While these two events did not happen simultaneously, they both have negated many of the changes that were previously made to ensure better indoor air quality. 9/11 forced many building owners to reduce or eliminate the amount of fresh outside air introduced into the buildings. They were concerned with the possibility of terrorists using chemical or radiological gases and these gases being drawn into the building.

This change did two things. First, it reduced the amount fresh air and reduced air exchange rate. Secondly, because they were not bringing in cold or hot humid outside air, they found their heating and cooling bills were substantially lower. So in one case it increased the amount of CO2 in the work environment which brought back the IAQ problem but it did save them money.

This event was shortly followed by the slowdown in the economy and the current economic meltdown. With fewer employees in the office buildings and with more companies having significant cash flow issues, there was no need to go back to the modified ventilation rates and other IAQ positive practices. In addition, with the threat of losing a job a reality for many people, nobody is going to complain or sue their employee because of some indoor air quality problem.

Today, the problems with poor indoor air quality still exist and employees are still having some of the same issues that they had in the 80’s.

Pure Air Systems has been making fan powered HEPA based air filtration systems since 1985. From the beginning these units were designed to not only filter the air in a select area but also have the ability to introduce outside, filtered fresh air into a building with minimal affect on the heating or cooling costs. For more information on how these systems work and the complete product line please go to: www.pureairsystems.com

When discussing quality of life issues the issue of good health is always one of the primary discussion points. Most of us are aware of the health challenges when we don’t eat the proper foods or too much food and we always are striving to exercise more to keep our bodies and hearts in better shape. Yet when it comes to the environments in which we live and breathe and spend most of our waking hours we often don’t think about them as a quality of life issue.

The quality of indoor air, whether it pertains to your home, office or place of work, is fast becoming a major quality of life issue. And the condition of the work or living environment has a huge impact on your health.

Because most of us spend a good portion of our lives breathing the air in some type of indoor environment it is essential that the air we breathe indoors is as clean and contaminant free as possible. In addition, the rate of fresh air exchange ndoors is necessary to minimize CO2 build-up.

To minimize the entry of airborne particles in the indoor environment it is necessary to first look at the types of furniture and electrical devices that are used in the specific indoor environment.

Less expensive wood laminates tend to off-gas and can create some respiratory issues. The collection of paper, books and paper products produce tiny particles every time they are opened or leafed through. The use of laser printers, copiers and fax machines all produce some  type of ozone when running.

Carpeting can act as a breeding ground for dust mites and other allergens whereas hard wood floors or tile create fewer of those issues. The use of indirect lighting can also provide for less glare and eye strain when looking at computer screens for extended periods of time.

One of the major challenges with maintaining a healthy indoor environment is the heating/cooling and air exchange issue. Maintaining a comfortable air temperature and humidity level in the environment is essential to proper indoor air quality. Most importantly is the ability to have at least 2 to 4 air changes per hour in a occupied environment.

Even with a minimum number of occupants in any room or office environment, the combination of airborne contaminants being produced from all the furniture and equipment plus the CO2 being produced from the individuals themselves, the level of indoor air quality and its affect on the human body can be significant.

Pure Air Systems offers a complete line of HEPA and Carbon based air filtration systems designed to be used in conjunction with the central heating/cooling systems or as stand alone units for individual areas. These units will remove the harmful airborne particulate as well as reduce the level of gases and odors and offer the ability to introduce fresh, filtered outside air to reduce the level of CO2 in a room and provide for a significant number of fresh air changes.

For more information on the complete line of HEPA and Carbon based air filtration systems please go to our website at: www.pureairsystems.com

The term “IAQ” or Indoor Air Quality has been used to relate to the condition of the indoor environment in which we live and work. Often times this term is used in conjunction with companies trying to sell a device or filtering system to help you improve your indoor air quality.

But what is in my indoor air that creates this “quality” problem? And, more importantly, how do I get my indoor air tested to determine the “quality” of the air I breathe?

In a number of TV commercials that promote various types of air filters they show (graphically) the types of potential airborne contaminants that may be in your air including dust mite feces, bacteria, dust particles, pollen, etc.  These specific particles are usually from less than 1 micron to 10 microns in size so they are invisible to the naked eye. We can see particles that are about 25 microns in size.

In addition to these particles there are also gaseous molecules that are released into the air from things such as household cleaning fluids, appliances, cooking odors and off-gassing from furniture and carpets. All of these particles and gaseous molecules make up the environmental “soup” that affects IAQ.

Testing  for the specific types of particles and gases in a home, office or any environment is not a simple process.  For example, to test for the types and levels of bacteria in an environment requires some special petri dishes and sampling devices. Once the samples are taken, it is then necessary to have these plates incubated at a certain temperature for a certain time and then evaluated for species and quantity by a  trained, degreed scientist.

Testing for particles in the air is even more difficult. This is where the “CSI” type of equipment is required. To ascertain the specific type of particulate requires very expensive equipment and highly trained technicians.

To determine the specific type of gas or odor requires a very expensive ( usually $25K or more) Trace Gas Analyzer and the ability to understand how to use it.

If you used the above referenced testing protocol and equipment and had to pay for the readings and report, you would probably have to spend upwards of $2,500 to $4,000. And that may be low. So, when someone says they can test the air in your house using one simple device and do it for under $200.00, you need to seriously question this process.

Rather than testing the indoor air, we suggest you do two things. First, make sure your home is properly heated and cooled and that you have no condensation on the windows or free moisture in the house. This creates mold and bacteria problems. Second, use the best available air filter technology available to ensure the capture of these small, micron sized particles.

Pure Air Systems offers the finest HEPA based, commercial grade air filtration systems on the market today. In addition, these filtration systems include carbon media for the adsorption of gases and odors. HEPA filters are the most effective means of removing and reducing the levels of harmful airborne particles. For more information on indoor air quality and the HEPA air filtration systems, go to our website at: www.pureairsystems.com

The problem of removing or capturing airborne allergens, dust, dust mite feces and other allergy producing particles has been an on-going challenge for homeowners and with good reason. The new housing construction designs are geared more and more toward the “green” building techniques which mean they are much tighter and more energy efficient. These new, tighter homes have little or no fresh air ventilation and, in essence, the home has become a terrarium.

The ability to capture general dust particles, or dust mite feces and other airborne allergens is normally accomplished by the air filter or furnace filter that is located in the HVAC system. Also, the use of portable, fan powered air filter or air purifying devices are often used and can also be helpful.

However, the use of these filtering devices is effective in removing dust and other particles only if they are airborne. Yes! The particles are not pulled off the floor or other surfaces to the filtering devices. They must be airborne.

The best way to ensure that you are removing these particles is to  always have your HVAC fan setting on your thermostat to the Fan On mode. This means the fan is running all the time even if the heating or cooling modes are not operating. Then, whenever you walk through the house or on the carpeting, or dust or vacuum the carpet, the small, sub-micron particles will become airborne and get picked up through the return air vents or drawn into the portable air filtration device.

The dust particles only become airborne for a short period of time; anywhere from 1 minute to 30 minutes depending upon the size of the particle. This is why constant air movement in the home is necessary to keep the environment as dust free as possible. Again, remember that even thought the dust particles are light and tiny, they will remain on any surface until moved or disturbed.

Once these tiny particles are airborne it is important to ensure that they are properly captured or removed. It is important that the furnace filters and portable filtering devices use a commercial grade filtering media or even HEPA filters for absolute capture.

Pure Air Systems offers a line of dual-layer, polyester ring panel filters that are a MERV 8 rated media. These commercial grade furnace filters fit very tightly into the filter frame and eliminate any bypass around the filter, unlike cardboard frame filters with little or no sealing capabilities.

The ability to seal tightly is important since the majority of the particles captured by the filter are less than 5 microns in size. In addition, the dual-layer media has the ability to hold a lot of dust without any appreciable increase in resistance or pressure drop. This means long life with fewer filter changes.

Pure Air Systems also offers a new, high capacity portable HEPA system that is small ( 13″ square by 21″ long) and powerful. This small HEPA unit can produce up to 500 CFM and offers four speeds, one to suit any room or application. This unit comes complete with a prefilter/carbon media filter and a true, certified 99.99% at 0.3 micron HEPA filter.

For more information on these and other air filtration products go to: www.pureairsystems.com.

PURE AIR SYSTEMS

A Discussion on ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.2-2007
Ventilation and Acceptable Indoor Air Quality in Low-Rise Residential Buildings

OLD STANDARD: The concept of utilizing mechanical ventilation as an effective method for reducing indoor air pollution in homes and small commercial buildings (two – story) has been considered an effective method to ventilate homes and minimize sources of indoor pollution. This concept applies to spaces intended for human occupancy within single-family houses and multifamily structures of three stories or fewer, including manufactured and modular houses.

PREMISE: The use of moderate to high volume self contained air filtration systems to allow for high rates of air filtration to reduce indoor air pollutants in occupied areas while also introducing small amounts outside, filtered fresh air for ventilation in-lieu of large amounts of mechanical ventilation as discussed in the ASHRAE 62.2-2007 standard.

IN THE BEGINNING

The use of natural ventilation in occupied areas has been around since people lived in caves. It is somewhat interesting to note that the method of ventilation for reduction of indoor air pollutants has not changed much since then.

The use of either natural ventilation ( such as opening up windows, doors or use of gravity vents) or mechanical ventilation such as fans, ducted vents with fans and mechanical HVAC equipment with the ability to introduce outside air have been primary methods of ventilation for years. This method was used for natural conditioning of the air temperature, reduction of stale air (removal of CO2) or reduction and/or removal of airborne pollutants.

There are a number of challenges with using outside air for ventilation. First, if you introduce outside air that is significantly above (hot) or below (cold) the inside ambient temperature you will increase or reduce the temperature and humidity levels in the occupied area and the energy requirements (and equipment costs) to maintain a comfortable temperature and humidity range become excessive. Second, outside air is not really fresh air. In today’s world no matter where you live the amount of contaminants and pollutants in the outside air preclude you from introducing any air from the outside unless it is properly filtered.

A MORE EFFECTIVE ENERGY EFFICIENT METHOD

Since its inception in 1985, Pure Air Systems HEPA based air filtration units were designed to be used to both filter the air and offer the option of introducing small amounts of outside, filtered fresh air for ventilation and reduction of CO2 and other airborne pollutants. The PAS systems can be used in conjunction with any type of forced air ducted heating/cooling system in the partial by-pass configuration or as stand alone units.

Page 2. Ventilation In Low-Rise Buildings:

The Pure Air Systems filtration units are all fan powered and range in air filtration volume from 350 CFM to 2000 CFM. These units incorporate an ECM energy efficient motor, forward curved blower, prefilter, carbon and certified 99.99% at 0.3 micron HEPA filter. The system is attached to the return air side of the HVAC system and a portion of the return air is brought in through the HEPA system (see image below) and continuously filtered.

A small amount of outside air (usually 50 to 100 CFM) is introduced directly ahead of the PAS unit. This small amount of air is naturally mixed with the ambient air from the return. Since the amount of outside air is much smaller (by percentage) than the amount of ambient air, even with extremely hot or cold outside air, the resultant mixed air temperature that is achieved through the natural mixing process delivered back to the HVAC system has a temperature differential of no more than 5 to 8 degrees F. from ambient. This means the amount of energy required to heat or cool this air back to the required temperature is minimal.

CONCLUSION

With the new tighter, energy efficient building techniques used today the need for some type of ventilation in occupied areas is necessary. However, with the need to reduce energy costs and meet some of the new LEED building certifications it is more important then ever that alternate methods of introducing outside air for ventilation be considered. The ventilation method utilized by Pure Air Systems is not only more energy efficient but provides a much greater reduction of airborne pollutants and better indoor air quality.

Pure Air Systems
6115 Guion Road
Indianapolis, IN 46254
800-869-8025
www.pureairsystems.com