WHO recently issued guidelines for air changes per hour in long term care. Must check each facility. Can't repeat the Vigi Mont-Royal outbreak (faulty ventilation, 100% infection rate, 70 deaths)
Ontario's FAQ comes five months after @jljcolorado's 22-tweet thread on air cleaners, and earlier work by @ShellyMBoulder. Be ahead of the curve, follow them.
FOIRE AUX QUESTIONS - L’utilisation de dispositifs portatifs de filtration d’air et la transmission de la COVID-19 (PDF): publichealthontario.ca/-/media/docume…
Wow, this is what I've been advocating for Ontario school boards since August!
The School District of Philadelphia is measuring the outdoor air amount supplied by mechanical #ventilation of every room in every school. THREAD #onted
I'm already seeing 6 Air Changes per Hour as a blanket number. However this depends on volume, or rather, the ceiling height vs floor area and occupancy. A rough guide might be:
12 ACH small volume (vehicles)
6 ACH average (office, classroom)
3 ACH large vol (arena, warehouse)
Houses and apartments are quite a bit different: ASHRAE has an entirely different standard just for residential #ventilation! Easier to think of per person amounts.
Try for 30 CFM per person for COVID-19 but no less than ASHRAE 62.1
Drat. I meant no less than ASHRAE 62.2
By the way, the relevant pandemic ASHRAE standards are available for free to view on their website, which I greatly appreciate. <glares at CSA>
BREAKING
CDC changes COVID-19 guidance, airborne is primary way the virus spreads, touching surfaces is NOT the main way. #Ventilation is important, as it goes beyond 6 ft and remains suspended in the air.
H/T @jljcolorado & @jmcrookston
Canada, you need to revise your guidance to be in line with science, known since February. Add breathing and inhalation. Minimize surface transmission. Add poorly ventilated spaces as risk factor, remains in the air and travels greater than 2m indoors. canada.ca/en/public-heal…
One-stop must-read by the top aerosol scientists:
FAQs on Protecting Yourself from COVID-19 Aerosol Transmission
This document is frequently updated.
Shortcut: tinyurl.com/FAQ-aerosols
It should be immediate #VENTILATION, with filtration improvements, for a #SaferSeptember to buy us time, and Indoor Environmental Quality improvements (#IEQ), for the long term. Not generic 'HVAC'. Not "AC".
We say we urgently need quality HVAC in schools (we do!) but HVAC is:
(H)eating the building,
(V)entilating using outdoor air, and
(A)ir (C)onditioning,
where AC = removing heat and moisture.
ALL classrooms have H and V, though often no AC.
In old schools Ventilation was provided naturally, using a chimney effect to cause negative pressure in the school, drawing outdoor air inside. It's unreliable, so these schools were later retrofitted with exhaust fans to force the air out. (if you find unrenovated, send pics!)
🔸A suggested room-by-room assessment and implementation methodology
🔸Who to follow
2/ My immediate asks of Ontario:
1⃣ Update the Guide to Reopening Ontario's Schools to add #ventilation, currently absent. I recommend using Schools for Health: Risk Reduction Strategies for Reopening from Harvard School of Public Health schools.forhealth.org/risk-reduction…
3/
2⃣ Also update the Guide to Reopening Schools to reflect current knowledge regarding the relative importance of airborne transmission of COVID-19 compared to surface transmission.