Keeping the air clean in the classroom

Keeping the air clean in the classroom

Children in the UK spend more and more of their lives indoors, and the health impact of the air within our homes and schools must be taken seriously.

The quality of the air we breathe has never been so important as now. With the arrival of COVID-19 we are thinking more about the air we breathe and our surroundings. Although children are said to be less at risk from COVID-19 a joint report by RCPCH and the Royal College of Physicians has found growing evidence that respiratory problems among children may be exacerbated by indoor air pollution in homes, schools and nurseries.

Although there has been much research about outdoor air pollution around schools (a recent article in The Guardian exploring the connection between air pollution particles in young brains linked to Alzheimer’s damage) less has been written about the impact of indoor air pollution inside schools and nurseries.

VORTICE believes that there are three fundamental factors to improve the air quality and help to stop the spread of COVID-19 in schools – Ventilation, Purification and Sanitisation which is further backed up by the governments recent video showing the importance of ventilation. It is important to note that not all classrooms have windows that open or its not appropriate in the winter to open windows so ventilation is paramount in keeping the air fresh and clean. VORTICE has a specialised set of ventilation products including single room heat recovery units, supply and extract fans and commercial AHU’s for larger projects to ensure a constant fresh air supply into the classroom.

The second factor is purification of the air. VORTICE offers systems like the DEPURO PRO air purifier that retain up to 99.995% of polluting micro particles, which are potential carriers of viruses and bacteria.

The third factor is sanitisation. This has been spoken about regularly since the arrival of COVID-19 and VORTICE has an extensive range of products suitable to help stop the spread and maintain optimal health of teachers and pupils within the school.

We all know washing our hands is paramount to stopping the spread.

The new S+G soap dispenser includes a no-touch design and is able to hold either soap or antibacterial gel and the Vort Super Dry hand dryer features a HEPA filter and UV light to further kill bacteria when washing and drying the hands.

VORTICE fundamentally believes that including these types of products within the school will not only improve the air quality but help stop the spread of CO ID-19, creating a healthy environment for pupils and staff.

Ensuring good air quality is key to our future

Ensuring good air quality is key to our future

Not sure you can remember a world pre-Covid? One thing is certain. It is imperative that we look at our indoor environment and ensure it is as clean and free from bacteria and pollutants as possible.

We spend more than 90% of our time indoors and unless we take steps to ventilate our homes and workplaces correctly, the quality of the air we breathe can be 50 times more polluted than outdoor air, with all the associated health risks. Why is that? We only need to contemplate the number of cleaning products, hair sprays, paints, air fresheners and new furniture and carpets that we bring into our home to realise what we’re feeding our indoor air quality with. The presence of condensation and mould can also have an adverse effect on skin allergies and respiratory conditions.

And now with the arrival of COVID-19 parallels are not only being drawn between being indoors and a high transmission rate but also between air pollution and the increase in the R value of COVID-19 due to the effects of air pollution on respiratory conditions. Evidence is suggesting that people living in polluted cities are more at risk.

“The pandemic has not in any way reduced the urgency of tackling the multiple environmental crises that we were already facing – if anything, it has shown that we need to step up the pace and put the green transition at the heart of the recovery process. It has shown that we can and must do things differently,” emphasised the EEB’s Secretary General Jeremy Wates.

Ventilation is a key aspect in the green transition at the heart of this recovery process. Poor ventilation in confined indoor spaces is associated with increased transmission of respiratory infections (Evidence from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control ECDPC).

Before there was any talk of COVID-19 A report was carried out by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) and the Royal College of Physicians on the health impact of indoor air quality on children and young people. The report explains that there is growing evidence that respiratory problems among children may be exacerbated by indoor air pollution in homes, schools and nurseries.

Now with the pandemic very much in the spotlight, research from the ECDPC states that ‘HVAC systems may have a complementary role in decreasing transmission in indoor spaces by increasing the rate of air change, decreasing re circulation of air and increasing the use of outdoor air.

VORTICE LIMITED has a wide range of MVHR systems in the product portfolio which continuously remove the stale air from wet rooms and supply constant fresh air at a low rate via a filtration system which ensures a clean indoor environment, with no need for further background ventilators via a filtration system which ensures a clean indoor environment

We also offer the new Depuro Pro air purifiers which includes HEPA Filters (filters which have been discussed in the ECDPC document) which are capable of retaining 99.995% of micro particles including viruses bacteria and pollens. These units would suit many applications such as retail, hospitals and care homes.

What is apparent is that while VORTICE LIMITED has been discussing the importance of indoor air quality for years, the arrival of Covid-19 has brought this to the forefront of people’s minds. We have to work together to ensure we are thinking about how we can use ventilation to improve indoor environment.

Do you know what effect air quality has on your children?

Do you know what effect air quality has on your children?

“Even before a child is born they are at risk of developing serious health issues due to poor indoor air quality. This can lead to lung development issues, premature births and respiratory issues when born.”

After your child is born the effects can be even more harmful. Studies show that children are more vulnerable to breathing in polluted air than adults. For their size, they breathe more air each minute than an adult. Buggies and prams put them at the level of car exhausts and can be exposed to up to 60% more pollution than adults, a study suggests.

If your child breathes high levels of air pollution over a long period, they might be at risk of:

  • their lungs not working as well as they grow older
  • developing asthma during childhood or as an adult – and if they have asthma already, air pollution can make it worse
  • wheezing
  • coughs
  • lung cancer when they’re older
  • infections like pneumonia

Air pollution can be very worrying as there’s only so much we can do about it ourselves. But if your child is healthy, the effects of air pollution are likely to be quite small. The best thing you can do is make sure your child has reduced levels of exposure to both outdoor and indoor pollution.

There are ways to reduce the exposure for you and your children by doing the following things:

  • Keep your home well ventilated
  • Check for condensation hot spots in the home
  • Keep your home at a maintained comfortable temperature

“We have always set real focus on educating customers, including house builders, on the effects of poor ventilation, especially if the systems have not been installed correctly and are delighted to get behind DEFRA’s clean air strategy consultation.”

This new draft outlines very simply that: “Air pollution is the top environmental risk to human health in the UK, and the fourth greatest threat to public health after cancer.”

So how can Vortice help?

Marketing Manager Jennifer Quinn comments: “Centralised mechanical ventilation and heat recovery systems have a huge part to play. The Vort Leto centralised mechanical extract fan by Vortice is a proven success story. The unit is PCDB listed and is suitable for use with a kitchen and up to five wet rooms. This whole house continuous MEV fan complies with ADF system 3 and can be positioned in any orientation. It has a boost facility to increase airflow when occupants are cooking or bathing and once properly commissioned by fan speed and room duct valve adjustment, it can make a big difference to indoor air quality.”

With thanks to www.defra.gov.uk and www.myhealthmyhome.com and www.bbcnews.co.uk

How clean is the air that you breathe?

How clean is the air that you breathe?

We spend more than 90% of our time indoors and unless we take steps to ventilate our homes and workplaces correctly, the quality of the air we breathe can be 50 x more polluted than outdoor air, with all the associated health risks.

Why is that? We only need to contemplate the number of cleaning products, hair sprays, paints, air fresheners and new furniture and carpets that we bring into our home to realise what we’re feeding our indoor air quality with. The presence of condensation and mould can also worsen skin allergies and respiratory conditions. Today’s new builds tend to be extremely airtight, which has its benefits in terms of heating bills, but doesn’t have the benefits of fresh air coming into the home.

To keep our homes healthy and avoid symptoms like dizziness, watery eyes, fatigue, headaches and coughing which can be caused by poor air quality, we need to take action. Ideally, an airtight home should be matched with a mechanical ventilation system which removes moist and stale air Although opening your windows regularly helps to ensure air movement, the moment those windows are closed, the air quality deteriorates very quickly, particularly if you are cooking, taking a shower or spraying aerosols.

A continuous mechanical extract system from Vortice can cost less than £5 a year to run and is well worth the investment. Another option, particularly useful for new build properties is a mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery. That does exactly what it says on the tin, it introduces fresh air into the property whilst recovering heat from the stale air that it is extracting and re-uses that heat by passing the fresh air over a heat exchanger.

A continuous mechanical extract system from Vortice can cost less than £5 a year to run and is well worth the investment. Another option, particularly useful for new build properties is a mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery. That does exactly what it says on the tin, it introduces fresh air into the property whilst recovering heat from the stale air that it is extracting and re-uses that heat by passing the fresh air over a heat exchanger.

Vortice knows only too well the importance of this and has made it its mission over the years to be a voice within the industry ensuring customers get a correct and compliant ventilation system by offering a complete design, aftersales and training service.

The DEFRA consultation also discusses how occupant behaviour can affect the ventilation requirements of a home. Vortice has listened to housebuilders and specifiers and works hard to provide a range of ventilation solutions for many different applications to improve indoor air quality in airtight dwellings.

Vortice welcomes this new Government strategy as this will underscore what we have been talking about for years. It is important for us as a ventilation manufacturer always to offer a compliant solution suitable for the end application and to provide education to the installer and end user. We find lack of education is the key issue here so it is great to see this consultation highlighting the risks of bad ventilation and what damage this can have on the occupant’s health.

Vortice has also promoted good practice during Green Great Britain Week, which began on 15 October 2018 and was designed to engage the public in the debate on air quality alongside climate change and highlight the economic opportunities it offers for the UK.

With thanks to www.defra.gov.uk and www.myhealthmyhome.