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RE: Air Filtration for Improved IAQ
Dear Website Customer:
In the Fall of 1992, we discussed Indoor
Air Quality. Since that time, IAQ has become a well known and
much written about topic.
One of the major elements of good indoor
Air Quality is air filtration. To bring you up to date on the
latest developments in air filtration, I have asked one of Dallas’
oldest and most respected air filter suppliers to collaborate
on this Update. Lee Riggs of the Joe Fly Company has supplied
us with the following information:
"In the mid 1970’s, the cost of
operating and maintaining a commercial building escalated very
rapidly due to the price of fuel and utilities that emanated from
the ‘energy crisis.’ Architects and engineers responded
to these rising costs by minimizing and/or deleting outside air
for ventilation, constructing buildings with hermetic sealing,
heavy insulation and windows that did not open. Existing buildings
were ‘tightened’ with weather stripping, caulking, visqueen,
and foam blown insulations. At the same time, maintenance budgets
were cut to recover the additional renovations and energy costs.
These techniques created an indoor environment
in many buildings where fresh, clean air was virtually non-existent.
Many experts believe that the energy saving measures taken in
the 70’s significantly contributed to today’s problems
with indoor air pollution.
Indoor air pollutants are frequently higher
than outdoor pollutant levels due mainly to HVAC designs and inadequate
filtration. A particle under fifty (50) microns in diameter
is not visible to the human eye. Yet, 99.9% of all particles in
the air we breath are less than one micron in diameter!!
Removing these unseen particles from the indoor air is the primary
purpose of filtration.
Every building needs some degree of filtration.
How much depends solely on the air purity considered necessary.
Selecting the right filter is one of the most important factors
in achieving the desired level of ‘clean’ air. There
are many different types of affordable, high quality filters available
in today’s market, mainly due to the fact that there have
been more innovations and changes in the last 5 to 10 years in
the filter industry than in the previous 50 years! For the pro-active
building owner or manager out there shopping around, there are
a few ‘rules of thumb’ to help in your endeavors.
A perfect filter would be one that has immediate
high particulate efficiency, non-shedding media, high particulate
retention, high degree of structural integrity, as well as a low
pressure drop in order to conserve energy. The bad news is that
you can’t have your cake and eat it to. You can, however,
find a happy medium, again depending on your desired level of
‘clean’ air.
Achievement of a level of cleanliness within
a building does not depend on filtration alone. The quantity of
air, induction of fresh air, ventilation, and air distribution
within the conditioned space are equally important. Consult your
air conditioning contractor and team up with professionals to
be sure you are seeing all the issues, and then you’ll be
on your way to working in a building with truly cleaner air."
If you have any questions or concerns about
the air filtration in your building after reading Lee’s report
or would like more information on available types of filters,
please call me at (214) 631-1010. I’d like to hear from you.
Sincerely,
KAHN MECHANICAL CONTRACTORS
Ann R. Kahn
TACL A370C
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