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Pandemic Spotlights Need for Clean, Fresh Air at Home

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Safety

May 1, 2020

One of the outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic was increased attention on the exposure risk from poor Indoor Air Quality (IAQ). While that pertains heavily to public spaces including offices, entertainment venues, retail, and other commercial properties, the renewed focus on ventilation has carried over to the residential side, as well. Growing attention on the importance of high IAQ prior to the pandemic has only increased, creating an ideal opportunity for residential builders to advocate for healthier indoor air quality solutions for their homes.

Why Is More Ventilation Needed?

“Ensuring proper ventilation with outside air can help reduce indoor airborne contaminants, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and other viruses,” the Environmental Protection Agency said.

Of course, the challenge of poor IAQ began long before COVID and the need for ventilation encompasses much more than viruses and bacteria. Everything from cleaning chemicals to cooking smoke to mold to human skin and pet dander creates pollution inside the home that impacts occupant health. According to the EPA, depending on the pollutants, they can lead to a range of short-term issues such as sore throat and headaches and to long-term issues including respiratory disease and cancer.

But while COVID viruses aren’t the only concern, the pandemic certainly has brought the conversation to the forefront and there’s little excuse to delay educating buyers on their options.

How Can Builders Help Improve Indoor Air Quality?

The EPA recommends a range of methods to improve ventilation in the home, including opening windows, operating whole-house fans, and using a heat recovery ventilator or energy recovery ventilator. The CDC’s online Interactive Ventilation Tool reveals how different improvements to the HVAC system, such as upgrading your HVAC filter to a higher filtration class, can reduce virus transmission in the home.

Virus concerns are just one more argument for implementing sound ventilation strategies for homes. COVID-19 aside, indoor air already contains two to five times more pollutants than outdoor air! Indoor air pollutants come from sources including pet dander, mold, pesticides, cleaning chemicals; known as Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). The EPA cautions that indoor air pollutants can lead to health impacts including dizziness, headaches, eye and nose irritation, and even respiratory disease, heart disease, and cancer.

Surely, Fresh Air Will Work It’s Way Into the Home…Right?

Not too long ago, homes were once “leaky” enough to let in fresh air through gaps and cracks in the building envelope. Today’s tighter, more energy-efficient homes now don’t supply an adequate amount of fresh air. These properly sealed homes require mechanical ventilation to remove excess moisture, odors, and contaminants, while simultaneously providing fresh air for occupants.

Is There a Reliable Solution to Bring Fresh Air into a home?

Based on location and different circumstances, Fantech offers three different solutions:

Good − Clean Filtered Air:

Adding a HEPA filtration system to the HVAC system ensures a full spectrum air cleaning by arresting pollutants and allergens in the air circulating within the home.

Better − Balanced Ventilation:

Using a fresh air appliance alongside a HEPA filtration system ensures a continual exchange of fresh outside air for stale air, providing a better option for healthier air and balanced ventilation.

Best − Ventilation with TVOC Sensing:

The best scenario to achieve a high level of indoor air quality combines a HEPA filtration system and a fresh air appliance with a ECO-Touch IAQ Total Volatile Organic Compound (TVOC) sensing control system. A TVOC controller recognizes VOCs from cooking and cleaning, for example, and will automatically ramp up the fresh air appliance ventilation rate to bring more fresh air inside while moving stale air to the outdoors.