With millions of students returning to school across the province during a global pandemic, the Provincial Government is making deliberate decisions to keep their students and their families safe. The decisions around how to move forward with the school year are weighing heavily on the hearts and minds of Ontario parents, teachers, students, administrators, and policymakers. Ventilation and filtration are by far some of their greatest concerns, but why is it so important?
On August 14th, 2020, the Ontario Provincial Government pledged $50M for schools, to upgrade existing HVAC systems in schools. In preparation for the return to in-person learning, on August 4th, 2021, Stephen Lecce Ontario’s Minister of Education announced additional funding of $25M earmarked to purchase an additional 20,000 HEPA air cleaners for school spaces that do not have mechanical or natural ventilation.
According to current evidence from the WHO, COVID-19 is primarily transmitted between people through respiratory droplets. Studies show that these droplets may remain suspended in the air for a significant period, move with air currents, and can spread to others, ultimately creating a risk for the airborne transmission of COVID-19. Despite the protocols already put into place to mitigate the risk of potential airborne transmission, it is clear that asking students, especially young ones, to maintain a two-meter physical distancing from others, wash hands frequently, and wear a mask while indoors will be a challenge. Therefore, the government is looking at other ways to mitigate the potential for exposure within schools.
Read about Ontario’s plan here COVID-19: health and safety measures at schools | Ontario.ca
The simplest way to reduce the number of airborne droplets in classrooms is to let them “fallow” periodically so that the droplets can settle and be cleaned with disinfecting solutions. Such a procedure, however, is highly inefficient and in the busy environment of a classroom, is practically impossible. The other, the more promising option is to increase the air changes per hour (ACH), or the number of times the volume of air in a classroom is replaced per hour, and to increase the efficiency of the air filtration. The problem is, however, many of the older schools in our province cannot achieve the ideal level of air changes per hour with their current HVAC systems.
The seemingly immediate solution to this problem is to improve the existing HVAC systems in schools. This, however, poses additional problems:
- HVAC equipment can be expensive and can lead to unnecessary costs that could be directed towards more productive efforts (like providing students with adequate PPE, reducing class sizes, etc.)
- Upgrading HVAC equipment can be a long process– with school now in full swing, schools need an affordable solution, fast.
- How do schools bring advanced ventilation to detached spaces like Portables or spaces that currently have little to no air movement? — they need something versatile and portable.
Our HEPA systems provide True HEPA Filtration with Carbon V.O.C (volatile organic compounds) capture so your students can learn confidently knowing the air around them is safer. HEPA (High-efficiency Particulate Air) filtration can capture 99.97% of particles down to 0.3 microns in size. Covid-19 is shown to be between 0.10-1.0 micron in size. When released in water droplets, most small viruses like this will attach themselves to a surrogate virus carrier such as a small dust particle or vapour of a larger size.
In our experience, many schools view the purchase of these systems as an investment, one that can be utilized long after COVID-19, especially during flu season. It is also a cheaper alternative than upgrading their HVAC system, which can cost thousands of dollars. Lastly, their versatility, allows these units to fit discreetly in any space with access to power.
At Air Management Group, we want to play our part in helping students get the education they need without compromising their or their families health. Visit us online at https://airmanagementgroup.ca for more information and to see our complete lineup of air scrubbing equipment for home, office, and learning facilities visit online at https://enviropurefx.com or feel free to call us at 416.264.7687 to answer any product questions or for pricing.
