Thread by @HuffmanLabDU

Never been a better time to help improve indoor air quality:
* Schools may see COVID increases from holiday travel
* Omicron variant threatening
* Black Fri & Cyber Mon deals at play

If you have any $ margin, consider buying a HEPA filter or two for your local school.
(Short 🧵)

2/ Many commercial HEPA air cleaners you can choose from. Choose:
✅ Enough CADR for room (~2/3 of room area)
✅ HEPA (& ignore ionization/plasma)
✅ Look for lower cost & sound

See excellent thread by @marwa_zaatari w/ helpful tips & data below:

https://twitter.com/marwa_zaatari/status/1439101884229423106

3/ Practical notes on HEPA product specifications:
* CADR (clean air delivery rate) is essentially air flow through the filter X particle removal efficiency
* You want enough CADR to meet room needs
* Can add units to add CADR
* CADR/noise usually listed only for highest speed

4/ Earlier this semester I bought a set of HEPA air purifiers for classes in my kids' schools. I had asked via Twitter about favorite models and got a bunch of ideas, based on different needs, budgets, compromises. See, e.g.:

https://twitter.com/HuffmanLabDU/status/1456016485160132611

5/ I settled on the Levoit Core 400s, because it has medium-high filtration capacity (260 cfm CADR) at relatively low sound volume and at a pretty good price. It also has an app feature that lets you turn on/off & set speed automatically via schedule.
levoit.com/products/core-…

6/ This is NOT a product endorsement, just one that worked fairly well as a compromise for our needs. See other ideas above.
That said, I noticed that @LevoitLifestyle is giving a 25% discount on all products through Monday. So it may be timely to buy now.
levoit.com

7/ I didn't do a comprehensive search, but I also noticed that Coway purifiers had a 10% discount by signing up for email, and the Amazon price for the Airmega 400 (high CADR, reviewed by colleagues very well) is currently 22% off as well.
cowaymega.com/pages/shop-air…

8/ In addition to commercial units, don't forget that #CorsiRosenthalBox DIY purifiers can be a great solution. Tested to do a great job of removing aerosol particles from the air & at a much lower price:
* cleanaircrew.org/boxfanfilterfa…
* ucdavis.app.box.com/s/kgo937lk0d02…

https://twitter.com/HaywardScoreCEO/status/1447422487008985095

9/ As mentioned, a key factor is to get enough air movement through the filter. Add one or multiple units per room and add CADR listed by product.

This calculator @ShellyMBoulder @j_g_allen @cedenolaurent helps estimate how much filtration you need:
tinyurl.com/portableaircle…

10/ I won't take the space here to review HEPA air filters, but will add a few links to just a few other threads to peruse if interested

https://twitter.com/HuffmanLabDU/status/1410998986064863235

https://twitter.com/HuffmanLabDU/status/1359893167105970178

https://twitter.com/akm5376/status/1455867453247004677

https://twitter.com/HuffmanLabDU/status/1428388713193611269

https://twitter.com/j_g_allen/status/1358022655622938625

https://twitter.com/HuffmanLabDU/status/1457791673631580166

11/ Most school districts are poor, but partnership w/ parents, PTO, etc. can help improve the air.
"We encourage students, teachers, & the community to engage w/ district admins & encourage them to leverage funds to support ... health of students & staff"
coloradosun.com/2021/04/23/saf…

12/ A key point of my 🧵 is to give practical suggestions & to encourage us to keep working together, pushing, advocating for improved indoor air safety, especially in schools. Everyone is burdened beyond their margins. Will take partnership to get it done. Write, call, donate.

13/ There are lots of resources & online groups doing excellent working organizing to support indoor air quality in schools. Check out some of these & others:
@Parents_Utd @FreshAirSchools @mygreenschools @smartrestartaps
#FreshAirSchools #COVIDisAirborne
parentsunited.net/freshairschool…

14/ Risks of COVID are real. All ages can be infected & suffer from Long-COVID, even in cases after vax, and other variants are still rising. We still need layers of protection. Adding portable HEPA filtration is a cost-effective & easily actionable step.

15/ And because I forgot to embed earlier in the thread encouraging people to consider buying HEPA or building DIY air purifiers for their school, see this great 2-page resource by @mygreenschools on in-room air cleaners:
usgbc.org/resources/scho…

16/ And also this useful collection of info on HEPA and other portable air filtration (& so many other topics related to the prevention of airborne COVID transmission). See this page and others linked on the top bar, assembled by @CleanAirCrewOrg.
cleanaircrew.org/air-filters-wo…