IAQ and Facility Management: Is Your Facility Asthma-Friendly?
A recent article from FacilityManagement.com (a division of the American School & Hospital Facility magazine) discusses asthma and its role in IAQ and facility management. The article points out that inside air is often more polluted than outside air.
Asthma rates are rising, says Kelly Robinson, the writer of the article. She quotes statistics from The World Health Organization (WHO) that say an estimated 300 million people throughout the world suffer from asthma, with 33 million of those afflicted with asthma because of high levels of gases, dust and fumes present in workplace facilities.
And the number of people with asthma is expected to climb by 100 million by 2025, according to the WHO.
Not only is a person’s overall health affected by asthma, but 36,000 kids miss school days because of asthma and 27,000 adults are missing work because of asthma, which affects overall productivity, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.
As Robinson points out, a facility should want to address IAQ not only for the health of building occupants, but also to encourage better productivity. But most cleaning methods are not adequate enough to prevent IAQ issues.
The majority of cleaning methods use appearance, rather than measuring bacteria or soil levels to determine if a facility is clean, claims Jeffrey Campbell, the department chair of Brigham Young University’s Facility and Property Management program, and as reported in the FacilityManagement.com article.
Indoor air quality is impacted by general cleaning, but also pollutants are found on production lines and HVAC equipment coils. FacilityManagement.com recommends a vacuum with a high-quality filtration system as one of the best ways to capture the microscopic irritants that can affect asthma sufferers.
Using a vacuum with a HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filter can help minimize allergens, as HEPA filters must meet standards that collect “99.7% of all particles at 0.3 microns,” according to the University of Illinois Extension. HEPA certified solutions help keep airborne pollutants out of the air, delivering better IAQ and better costs savings as filters and HVAC systems stay cleaner.
Goodway offers top-notch, innovative HEPA cleaning solutions. Our BPV-100H is great for general cleaning. It’s compact and is worn as a backpack, making it easy to carry. It produces a static water lift of 92″ and an air displacement of 95 CFM. Its disposable paper filter collection bags traps dust and other materials.
The EV-30H and VAC-2-HEPA are great for industrial applications. The EV-30H is the preferred unit for collecting dry-only fine particles in commercial applications. This vacuum produces a lift of 90″ and an air displacement of 115 CFM. Its three stage filtration system collects 99.97% of all particles at 0.3 microns (more than the required standard). The VAC-2-HEPA offers wet-dry performance for fine particle recovery. It’s equipped with twin-motor power and produces a static water lift of 83″and an air displacement of 150 CFM.
Next Steps:
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