Establishing Safe COVID-19 Rooms in Schools Using HEPA Air Purifiers
As schools prepare to go back, many are starting to redesign their current infrastructure to meet local and national recommendations. According to guidelines given by the CDC, schools are recommended to have a designated isolation room where students, and even staff, can go before they are able to leave the school. This is done with the hopes of keeping other individuals as safe as possible. However, with building heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems being exposed as a likely way that the infection is spreading, there needs to be a way to keep the air from the isolation room re-circulating throughout the school and exposing the rest of its inhabitants.
Our ISO-Aire unit does exactly what is needed at this moment. Originally designed to create an isolation room at the world-renowned healthcare provider during the surge of COVID-19 in the spring, our ISO-Aire has been further developed to create an isolation room in any indoor setting, providing a trifecta of protection that is 99.99% efficient at removing harmful airborne contaminants including germs (e.g. bacteria, viruses, mold spores), allergens like pollen and pet dander, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and odors. With its powerful fan, dirty air is pulled from the room into the ISO-Aire unit, where it first passes a HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) filter, capable of eliminating 99.97% of airborne contaminants equal to or larger than 0.3 microns in size...and this is a MINIMUM efficiency rating. A HEPA filter is no joke. It puts normal building filters to shame. With its considerable thickness and random layers of fibers, it is perfectly designed to catch virtually everything that passes through.
Next up after the HEPA filter, a bipolar ionizing device. This proven germicidal device produces positively and negatively charged ions, which bind to the surface of germs, removing essential hydrogen that they need for life or the ability to infect us. Unlike some ionizers on the market that produce ozone, which is toxic to the human body when inhaled, ours are ozone-free, making it a safe technology. Furthermore, the ions produced cluster around air particles, making them heavier so that they fall to the floor, minimizing the chances of being inhaled.
For some who wish to offer an extra level of protection, the air would pass next by the unit’s installed ultraviolet-C (UVC) emitter. UVC is a high-energy wavelength in the UV spectrum, and as it hits the DNA and RNA (deoxyribonucleic acid/ribonucleic acid) of germs, it causes irreparable mutations that causes the germs to be unable to reproduce. UVC has decades of proven results, with 99.99% effectiveness against all sorts of germs like bacteria and viruses. UVC has been found by a study to be effective against the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.
At the end of the air’s journey, it has passed 3 proven air-cleaning technologies, the HEPA filter, bipolar ionization, and UVC sterilization. All of this is possible by the unit’s fan, constantly pulling air past the technologies, constantly cleaning the air and helping to keep the space clean and safe.
The good news is that for any school looking to help keep its inhabitants safe against COVID-19, the installation of an ISO-Aire unit provides not only a highly effective safety measure to serve this purpose, but also long-lasting rewards that extend far beyond the pandemic. Student and staff health are greatly impacted by indoor air quality, whether it be asthma, allergies, or just the typical cold transmission. By keeping the air clean, these problems should be greatly alleviated, leading to a greater learning experience for students, and a better workplace for staff.