The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released new guidance on best practices to improve indoor air quality (IAQ) as part of the administration’s overall pandemic response plan for combating COVID-19.
Called the “Clean Air in Buildings Challenge,” the guidance advises, “[b]uilding owners and operators should engage experts, facilities managers, and others who are skilled, trained, and/or certified in HVAC work to develop and implement plans to improve IAQ and manage air flows.”
Recommended Best Practices
The guidance outlines the steps building owners and operators should take:
- Create an action plan for clean indoor air in buildings that assesses indoor air quality, plans for upgrades and improvements, and includes HVAC inspections and maintenance. This involves first determining how clean outdoor air is brought into the building and distributed to all occupied spaces and understanding and documenting how the building’s HVAC systems work. The guidance recommends working with an HVAC expert to assess and inspect systems for ventilation, filtration, and air cleaning. The assessment should determine whether carbon dioxide monitors are needed, determine how much clean air (outdoor air + filtered HVAC recirculation air) is needed, measure air delivery for each room or space, and determine whether particular spaces need a different direction of air flow. Building owners or operators should have an HVAC expert verify the system is working properly through testing...
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