An office space must be designed with a focus on the productivity and health of the people who work in the office. In addition to interior design, the management of office buildings also plays an important role. Ensuring proper ventilation, efficient use of air-conditioning and good levels of humidity in the office can significantly reduce the spread of infectious substances, ensuring better health for workers. In the current situation, most companies have prioritized home office, but after the pandemic subsides, they will naturally return to the office. So, how should office buildings effectively ensure air exchange?
Ventilation in office buildings usually works only with fresh air from the outside, so there is no risk of infection from the office’s waste air. According to available information, the novel coronavirus is not transmitted purely by air, but mainly by droplets or dust particles. However, a problem can arise if a so-called rotary heat exchanger is used in the building to recover heat.
A rotary recovery (sometimes also regenerative) heat exchanger is designed to transfer heat or moisture. The basic part of the rotary heat exchanger is a rotor, one half of which extends into the exhaust air flow and the other half into the supply air. The rotation of the rotor then transfers the accumulated thermal energy and humidity from the exhaust air to the supply air. This type of heat exchanger is efficient and popular especially due to its very fast return on investment.
Unfortunately, there is contamination of the supply air from the outside with the exhaust air from the office, and therefore there is a risk of increasing the concentration of infectious substances in the supply air.
Therefore, it is recommended to operate the air handling units without the rotary heat exchanger on, especially where people are actually present. The same is true of systems that use exhaust air circulation, where the system needs to be operated using 100% fresh air at this time.
To reduce the spread of infection, it is necessary to ensure as much regular fresh air supply to the offices as possible. Ventilation should work continuously in buildings (if possible), i.e. overnight and at weekends when no one is present. It is recommended to open windows as much as possible both in buildings with mechanical ventilation and especially in buildings without it. Yes, the temperature may get a little uncomfortable, but the supply of fresh outdoor air greatly helps to limit the concentration of infectious substances. It is also a good idea to at least slightly reduce the number of employees in one office to ensure enough fresh air for each person. Every time you enter the office where someone was present, the employee should open the window for at least 15 minutes. Windows in office buildings need to be opened in all types of premises (except for the toilets, which we will discuss below) so that lateral flows across the building occur.
For more information, visit https://bit.ly/correct-air-exchange-crucial-to-fight-virus-spread
Image courtesy: BoysPlayNice, Petr Andrlík, Tadeáš Seidl, Everbay.co
