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The Benefits of Better Ventilation and Filtration Practices in Schools

The Benefits of Better Ventilation and Filtration Practices in Schools. Gerald (Jerry) Lamping ASHRAE Member Director for IAQ (Retired) Green Classroom Professional USGBC December 17, 2013. What is a Green School ?. Green Schools National Network

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The Benefits of Better Ventilation and Filtration Practices in Schools

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  1. The Benefits of Better Ventilation and Filtration Practices in Schools Gerald (Jerry) Lamping ASHRAE Member Director for IAQ (Retired) Green Classroom Professional USGBC December 17, 2013

  2. What is a Green School ? Green Schools National Network A Green School enhances student health and learning while conserving natural resources and empowering students to develop sustainable behaviors, enabling them to become the stewards of the future. The Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) We want all schools to be: Healthy, Comfortable, Energy Efficient, Material Efficient, Easy to Maintain and Operate, Commissioned, Environmentally Responsive Site, A Building That Teaches, Safe and Secure, Community Resource, Stimulating Architecture, and Adaptable to Changing Needs. The U.S. Green Building Council Green schools are healthier for students and teachers, better for the environment, and cost less to operate and maintain.  The Environmental Protection Agency (Tools for Schools) Green schools promote a healthy learning environment to reduce absenteeism, improve test scores and enhance student and staff productivity. U.S. Department of Education's Green Ribbon Schools Green schools can help children build real-world skill sets, cut school costs and provide healthy learning environments.

  3. Costs for Student Absences 12% of U.S. School Children are chronically absent and miss 1 out of every 10 school days* One missed student day costs local school district in state aid  $32 State wide ADA in 2009-2010 95.5% Keller ISD ADA 97.0% Boerne ISD ADA 96.0% North East ISD ADA 96.1% * TIME Magazine September 17, 2012 issue

  4. Indoor Air Quality Standards • Air Quality Standards are applied • Outdoor Air, EPA NAAQS at www.airnow.gov • Air Plane Cabins, ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 161-2007, Air Quality within Commercial Aircraft • Computer and electronics facilities, ISO 14644 Parts 1 and 2   • Nuclear facilities, No. NS-G-2.2 Operational Limits and Conditions and Operating Procedures for NPPs • Pharmaceutical facilities ISO 8573-1:2010 Compressed Air Contaminants and Purity Classes • Commercial/Instructional facilities CO2 level 700 ppm above BG

  5. High Performance & Healthy Classroom From the 1950’s

  6. Unhealthy Classroom of the 2000’s

  7. Classroom of the Future? http://www.carpediemaz.com/learning-centers/

  8. ASHRAE President2013-14 Presidential theme Shaping the Next focuses on creating positive change for our world, ourselves, and our work by setting goals, making realistic plans to achieve them, and having the commitment to follow them. WILLIAM P. BAHNFLETH, PH.D., P.E ASHRAE Journal, vol. 55, no. 8, August 2013

  9. Shaping the Next Indoor Air Quality Fundamentals “the most important aspect of what I consider to be our fundamental obligation to strive to provide indoor environments that are safe, healthy, productive, and comfortable while conserving resources and the environment.” ASHRAE Journal, vol. 55, no. 8, August 2013

  10. ASHRAE: Shaping the Next Indoor Air Quality Goal “Perhaps most importantly, a critical shift in thinking is from a goal of indoor environments that are acceptable to the occupants to that are truly healthy and productive.” WILLIAM P. BAHNFLETH, PH.D., P.E., 2013 ASHRAE President

  11. Shaping the Next Indoor Air Quality, FAC Filtration and Air Cleaning(FAC) Comments BY H.E. BARNEY BURROUGHS, PRESIDENTIAL MEMBER/FELLOW ASHRAE, “The focus on the indoor environment and related human health effectsinclude Respirable Particulates, VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and “Toxic” Mold.” “FAC is a mature 70+ year old technology from the prior century, but the technology has unique and established advantages and has proven potential to offer as the HVAC industry faces the challenges of the second decade of the 21st century.”

  12. USGBC: LEED Future Criterion “The focus of LEED has been improving energy and water use, but in the next few years, the emphasis likely will shift to the ways that well-designed buildings canbenefitpeople's health through better air quality…” ELIZABETH HEIDER, 2012 Chair of the USGBC Board of Directors

  13. USGBC:N. California Chapter On October 30, 2013,USGBC-NCC launched the Building Health Initiative that will feature a diverse array of actions, will facilitate sharing of best practices and will foster collaboration among a unique coalition of commercial building owners and tenants; architects, engineers and builders; building product manufacturers; legal professionals; labor and healthcare professionals and institutions.  “This is the first time major corporations and institutions from multiple sectors have come together to publicly commit to improving human health through green building,” Dan Geiger, Executive Director of USGBC-NCC

  14. Society of Indoor Air Quality: Protect Against Outdoor Pollutants William W Nazaroff, Ph.D. of UC Berkeley states that the two pollutant classes of greatest health significance coming into the indoor air from the outdoor air are fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone. There are mature air filtering and air cleaning technologies available for removing both pollutant classes from air streams. Indoor Air 2013 vol. 23 William J. Fisk of LBNL concludes that ‘the largest potential benefits of indoor particle filtration may be reductions in morbidity and mortality from reducing indoor exposures to particles from outdoor air’. Indoor Air 2013 Vol. 23 Charles J. Weschler, Ph.D. of EOSHI notes that a substantial proportion (25–60%) of daily ozone intake occurs indoors and that activated carbon or chemically impregnated filters could be used to control ozone in mechanically ventilated buildings. Environ. Health Perspectives Vol. 114 2006

  15. EPA’s Health Effects Pyramid Increasing air contamination level

  16. The 3 I’s of Indoor Environmental Quality forCommercial/Instructional Facilities

  17. The 3 I’s of IEQ can affect health and attendance Invisible Particles Aerosols Levels in the classroom Airborne particles have the potential to cause allergic reactions, skin irritation, coughing, sneezing, respiratory difficulties and circulatory system problems. Irritant Gases Ventilation Practices for the classroom Total volatile organic compounds (TVOC), formaldehyde, body odors, and biological contaminants are causes for occupant discomfort and poor health outcomes. Infectious Microbes Cold/Flu Virus Transmission Paths in the classroom Bacterial and Viral respiratory tract infections, particularly of rhinoviruses, are associated with the majority of asthma exacerbations in both children and adults. Invisible particles + Irritants + Infections = Inflammation process

  18. Sources of the 3 I’s • Outside Air for Ventilation • EPA NAAQS Pollutants • Toxic Gases • Airborne Microbes • Occupants • Particles • Ammonia/Acetone • Hydrogen Sulfide • Infectious Microbes • Building Materials & Processes • Formaldehyde • Total Volatile Organic Compounds • Asbestos and Lead Dust • Infiltration from open penetrations • Atmosphere Dust • Combustion Gases • Airborne Microbes • Animal borne Microbes

  19. Assessing the Indoor EnvironmentInvisible Particles Invisible particles

  20. Invisible Particles In Dust • Animal dander • Household dust • Insect parts • Pollen • Pesticides • Combustion by-products • Microbes • Common Reservoirs: • Carpets, pillows, couches, stuffed animals

  21. Invisible Particle Health Effects Source: Pope and Dockery, 2006 http://www.noaca.org/pmhealtheffects.pdf

  22. Health Effects Of Sub Micron Sized Particulate Matter (PM) • Pulmonary inflammation initiating a systemic response;  • Translocation of UFPM into the blood circulation, leading to interaction with endothelium and white blood cells; • Distribution to extra pulmonary organs (e.g., liver, heart) thereby inducing vascular effects and cardiac events;  • Translocation of UFPM along sensory neuronal pathways to the CNS causing inflammation, and activation of irritant receptors in the conducting airways affecting input to the automonic nervous system. Source: Assessment of Ambient UFP Health Effects:Linking Sources to Exposure and Responses in Extrapulmonary Organs : 2010 Grant EPA R827354, Günter Oberdörster et al, University of Rochester; EPA PM Research Center

  23. Clean Air Room PM Standard ISO 14644-1 Medicines Semiconductors Medical Devices Meat Processing Computers Classrooms Entry Rooms Data Centers Outside Air Cleanrooms are required for manufacturing of electronics, drugs, food and beverage plants Need a Clean Air Room Standard for Classrooms at Class 6

  24. EPA PM Standard • For long-term effects of fine PM (PM2.5 ), EPA’s Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) recommended the primary health standard be tightened from an annual average of 15 µg/m3 to somewhere in the range of 11–13 µg/m3. • The EPA’s new standard 12 µg/m3 annual mean   • With an annual standard of 12 µg/m3 , the EPA estimates the annual health benefits are • $2.3–5.9 billion, with costs of $69 million. • About 30% of the U.S. population lives in the 191 counties or parts of counties designated as “nonattainment” for the current annual PM2.5 standard. Weinhold B 2012. EPA Proposes Tighter Particulate Air Pollution Standards. Environ Health Perspect 120:a348-a349. http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.120-a348a http://ehp03.niehs.nih.gov/article/fetchArticle.action?articleURI=info%3Adoi%2F10.1289%2Fehp.120-a348a#r3 http://www.catf.us/resources/publications/files/SickOfSoot.pdf

  25. USA Filtration Practice ASHRAE 62.1-2013 MERV 8 before coil USGBC LEED V4 MERV 11 Normal MERV 13 Enhanced CHPS Core Criterion MERV 11 Normal MERV 13 Enhanced

  26. European Union Filtration Law

  27. Actual Air Particle Reduction Methods • Improve Air Filtration • ASHRAE Filter Rating of MERV 8 to MERV 13 and Gas Phase Filtration Polarized Media Devices • Reduce Classroom Clutter and Furnishings • Airborne Particle Counts

  28. Portable Hand Held Particle Counter Six Channels of Particle Sizes from .3 to 10 Micrometers in diameter

  29. Particles in the classroom Before Cleaning After Cleaning Ten fold decease in Fine Particles after Cleaning in Room

  30. Actual Experience Shows Benefits of IAQ Intervention Program in Schools “In North East ISD of nearly 70,000 schoolchildren, there were an extraordinary 9,000 trips to school nurses during the first six weeks of classes before the environmental intervention program began. The next year, school nurse visits dropped like a rock to half as many during the same period” Diane Rhodes, Asthma Educator Allergy & Asthma Today vol 9 no 3, 2011 Results of student Inhaler /Nebulizer Usage after initiating ‘Tips for a Healthy Classroom’ and ‘Asthma Trigger Education’ began being communicated to staff. Data comes from the time period of first six weeks of school which is when ‘most problematic’ allergy seasons are dormant. from North East ISD Department of Environmental Health “A significant increase in hospital admissions for asthma (20% to 300%) was associated with school return after each break. The strongest associations were observed following summer vacation and for children age 5 to 11 years.” by Shao Lin, Rena Jones, Xiu Liu, Syni-An Hwang, Impact of the Return to School on Childhood Asthma Burden in New York State International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, Vol 17, No 1 (2011)

  31. Actual Experience Shows Benefits of Air Cleaning in Schools • Teachers report less problems with sore and scratchy throats, runny eyes, and loss of voice during the school day • Students report less symptoms of respiratory illness and asthmatic experience less breathing problems requiring use of reliever medication http://www.neisd.net/athletics/PE/documents/DetectingAerosolsPPP.pdf

  32. School Location Near Major Highway One recent research study revealed a significant 24% increase in the risk of experiencing multiple emergency department contacts for asthma for every log-unit of traffic exposure. Another study found pronounced deficits in attained lung function at age 18 years were recorded for those living within 500 m of a freeway Yifang Zhu, William C Hinds, Seongheon Kim, Si Shen, Constantinos Sioutas, Study of ultrafine particles near a major highway with heavy-duty diesel trafficAtmospheric Environment, Volume 36, Issue 27, September 2002, Pages 4323-4335 http://www.epa.gov/ncer/reports/r827352C006fr.pdf Use of a total traffic count metric to investigate the impact of roadways on asthma severity: a case-control study Cook et al. Environmental Health 2011, 10:52 http://www.ehjournal.net/content/10/1/52 Effect of exposure to traffic on lung development from 10 to 18 years of age: a cohort study W James Gauderman et alhttp://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(07)60037-3/abstract

  33. Schools Located Near Major Highway (Keck School of Med.) • Childhood Incident Asthma and Traffic-Related Air Pollution at Home and School By Rob McConnell, et al • Results indicate that children exposed to higher levels of traffic-related air pollution at school and home are at increased risk of developing asthma. • Almost 10% of public schools in California are located within 150 m of roadways with >25,000 vehicles daily. • Students in urban areas in eastern U.S. cities are even more likely … to attend schools near major highways. • And one in three US public schools is within about 1,300 feet, or a quarter mile, from a major highway. • Environmental Health Perspectives • volume 118 | number 7 | July 2010

  34. Assessing the Indoor EnvironmentIrritant Gases Irritant Gases

  35. Outside Air Contaminants Ozone; Hot & Sunny Days Water Vapor in Hot and Humid Climates Other Gases; Sewer, Boiler Gas, Industrial Chemical and Biological Threats; Pranksters Source: www.airnow.gov Source: ASHRAE 62.1-2007

  36. Research Shows the Test Score Effects of Irritant Gases • For every unit (1 l/s per person) • increase in the ventilation rate, • the proportion of students • passing standardized test • (i.e., scoring satisfactory or • above) is expected to increase by • 2.9% (95%CI 0.9–4.8%) for math, • 2.7% (0.5–4.9%) for reading. Sources: Dr. Richard Shaughnessy, Indoor Air Program, Uni. of Tulsa Dr. P. Wargocki, International Centre for Indoor Environments, Uni. of Denmark Indoor Air Quality Scientific Findings Resource Bank (IAQ-SFRB), Indoor Environment Department of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory www.iaqscience.lbl.gov/sfrb.html

  37. Research Shows the Absenteeism Effects of Irritant Gases 1 l/s plus reduces absences by 1.6% 3.4% fewer student absences $33M higher state funding • . Desired level 1000 ppm > 7.10 l/s/p (15 cfm/p) Better Classroom Ventilation Means Fewer Absences Association of classroom ventilation with reduced illness absence: Mark Mendell, Ekaterina Eliseeva, Molly Davies, Michael Spears, Agnes Lobscheid, William Fisk, et al Indoor Air Quality Scientific Findings Resource Bank (IAQ-SFRB), Indoor Environment Department of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory www.iaqscience.lbl.gov/sfrb.html

  38. Research Shows the Health Effects of Irritant Gases The research study data available suggests that • indicators of inflammation, • rates of communicable respiratory infections, • frequency of asthma symptoms and • rates of short-term sick leave increase with lower ventilation rates in the building environments studied “Ventilation rates and health: multidisciplinary review of the scientific literature” by J. Sundell, H. Levin, W. W. Nazaroff, W. S. Cain, W. J. Fisk, D. T. Grimsrud, F. Gyntelberg, Y. Li, A. K. Persily, A. C. Pickering, J. M. Samet, J. D. Spengler, S. T. Taylor, C. J. Weschler 2011 John Wiley & Sons A/S, INDOOR AIR

  39. PRN Inhaler Use since School Opening School A 94 School B 100 71 60 80 43 47 43 60 30 Total PRN per 28 40 16 20 Month 40 13 21 23 21 3 12 11 10 20 8 0 Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb March April May Month Since Opened Actual Experience Shows Health Benefits of Ventilation in Schools The 93 asthmatic students at School A were requesting their PRN inhaler at 2 to 3 times more than the 102 asthmatic students at School B School A had low ventilation rates

  40. Actual Experience Shows Test Score Benefits of Ventilation in Schools School B had higher percentages (up to 4% higher) of students passing reading, writing and mathematics sections. School B had 11% and 16% more students than School A obtaining the Commended Level on the reading and mathematics tests (students correctly answered 90% or better of the TAKS questions). School A had low ventilation rates

  41. Ventilation Air Energy Penalty • Fan energy is required • to force outside air into • the school building • Fan energy is required • to exhaust air from • the school building, • Thermal energy is required • to cool, heat and dehumidify • outside to indoor comfort conditions • Energy Cost is about $1.50/Cubic Feet/Minute Energy $$$ Source: J. Dieckmann, et al, “Air Purification to Reduce Outside Air”, ASHRAE Journal April, 2009, pps 68-70

  42. Benefits of IAQ Procedure

  43. Gas Phase Filtration Media • Media is a combination of activated carbon, and an activated alumina substrate impregnated with sodium permanganate. • By using these media in combination, the removal of most irritant gases is achieved. Air Cleaning in Practice – School Sustainability and Commercial Building Field Study Results http://www.purafil.com/PDFs/Technical%20Papers/Commercial/Air%20Cleaning%20in%20Practice%20(IAQA%202009).pdf

  44. Polarized Media Filtration Devices • Electrostatic attraction & Agglomeration • Ability to collect particles < 0.3 Microns Loading Characteristics Polarized fiber + _ ______ ++ + ++ + + _ ______ ++ + ++ + + + + - _ - + Passive fiber _ + - +7,000 vdc applied to center screen _ + - Polarized media fibers + Grounded screens

  45. Pressure Drop vs Dust Load Polarized Media Air Filtration Devices

  46. ASHRAE 52.2 Test Results

  47. Cost Benefit from Extended Filter Service and Power Use

  48. Asthma Risk and VOC Level For every 10 unit increase in the concentration of toluene and benzene (µg/m3) the risk of having asthma increased by almost two and three times, respectively. Source: Association of domestic exposure to volatile organic compounds with asthma in young children, K Rumchev, J Spickett, M Bulsara, M Phillips, and S Stick http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1747137/?tool=pubmed

  49. Total Volatile Organic Compoundsand TVOC Meter Technology • Volatile Organic Compounds = VOCs = Odors & Irritants &Toxicity • Many sources include microbial life forms • Many under 0.001 micron and too small for removal by normal filtration media • Removed by adsorption with carbon or other adsorbent material in gas phase filters • Removed by capture with ultra fine particles in polarized media filtration devices • Measurable with portable handheld devices

  50. Actual Experience Shows Benefits of Reducing VOC’s • North East ISD reported a savings of 30% in Custodial costs and a reduction of 25% in Sick Days among Custodial and Maintenance team • Lockport Township High School, in Lockport, Ill., reported a 3% increase in the average daily attendance after the first year of implementing an Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Management plan). http://www.healthyschoolscampaign.org/programs/gcs/success.php http://www.cleaningforhealthyschools.org/documents/FAQs.pdf http://media.cefpi.org/southern/EPA_GreenCleaning.pdf

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