Favorite EP report on Air pollution and COVID-19

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[News item provided by REHVA] The European Parliament’s ENVI committee published a report about the effects of air pollution on health notably COVID-19. The report highlights the importance of ventilation to increase indoor air quality and the need for proper ventilation of indoor spaces to reduce Sars-COV-2 transmission.

It also raises the question whether existing ventilation standards are sufficient to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2 indoors. While the report is a general overview, the fact that the ENVI Committee tackles this issue opens the possibility to raise awareness of the importance of IAQ and the definition of minimum IAQ requirements in building policies.

Read the full report.

Favorite The Renovation wave should kick-start a just healthy building transition in Europe

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Buildings should serve the health, comfort, and wellbeing of occupants. We spend +90% of our lives indoor, thus indoor environment quality (IEQ) has a major impact on our health and life. Unfortunately, these basic principles are often ignored when constructing buildings or developing EU policies targeting energy renovation.

REHVA experts – scientists and practitioners in the field of building services engineering – have been advocating healthy indoor climate along energy efficiency for decades. We seal our buildings for energy performance so we must pay particular attention on indoor air quality. Defining minimum IEQ criteria to be reached during deep energy renovation should be widely acknowledged and practiced in policies and plans for deep energy renovation.

Read the complete article written by Anita Derjanecz on REHVA Blog

Favorite We need new criteria for ventilation design

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The need for good ventilation has been mainly justified with health reasons, but are there reliable health criteria to rely on when defining appropriate ventilation rates?

Göran Stålbom published a good summary about the history of ventilation criteria in the October 2020 newsletter of Swesiaq, the Swedish indoor air organization. The bottom line was that there are no scientific, widely accepted criteria for ventilation rates. The sizing practice has been largely based on various guideline values or on practical experience, meaning that at the end of the day proper ventilation performance may depend on the experience of the designer.

Read the complete article written by Olli Seppänen on REHVA Blog.

Favorite 1 April 2021, AIVC Webinar – Building ventilation: How does it affect SARS-CoV-2 transmission?

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The Air Infiltration and Ventilation Centre and the IEA EBC Annex 86 “Energy Efficient Indoor Air Quality Management in Residential Buildings” are organizing the webinar Building ventilation: How does it affect SARS-CoV-2 transmission? to be held on April 1st, 2021 at 17:00-18:30 CET. The webinar will address the potential mitigating role of building ventilation in the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Presentations and Speakers:

  • Introduction, Arnold Janssens – chair of AIVC WG COVID-19, Ghent University, Belgium
  • The Role of Building Ventilation in Indoor Infectious Aerosol Exposure, Andrew Persily – NIST, USA
  • Modelling uncertainty in the relative risk of exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus by airborne aerosol transmission, Cath Noakes – University of Leeds, UK
  • Field measurements of aerosol exposure in indoor environments, Wouter Borsboom – TNO, Netherlands
  • Ventilation system design and the risk areas for spreading airborne contaminants in office buildings, Alireza Afshari – Aalborg University, Denmark

For further information on registration etc. please visit: https://www.aivc.org/event/1-april-2021-webinar-building-ventilation-how-does-it-affect-sars-cov-2-transmission

Favorite AIVC Newsletter, Special Issue COVID-19

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The AIVC board decided in their last (online) meeting of September 2020 to start a project to collect, discuss and disseminate information about COVID-19 in relation to ventilation and airtightness. A working group was created to define and carry out the project, with the title ‘Ventilation, airtightness and COVID-19’.  The first special issue of the AIVC newsletter is a first outcome of the project.

Highlights of this newsletter:

If you have specific questions related to COVID-19 and ventilation, please let us know by writing an email to info@aivc.org.

The newsletter is freely accessible in English and in French.

Favorite ASHRAE COVID-19 upcoming online courses

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The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) is organizing the following COVID-19 related learning courses in January & February 2021:

Click on the links above to know more.

Favorite ASHRAE Epidemic Task Force Releases Core Recommendations for Reducing Airborne Infectious Aerosol Exposure and Communities of Faith Building Guidance

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The ASHRAE Epidemic Task Force has released two new pieces of guidance. The first, ASHRAE’s Core Recommendations for Reducing Airborne Infectious Aerosol Exposure, summarizes the main points found in the detailed guidance documents produced by the ETF. Second, Communities of Faith Buildings guidance, offers recommendations on conducting worship services under epidemic conditions.

More information is available here:  https://www.ashrae.org/about/news/2021/ashrae-epidemic-task-force-releases-core-recommendations-for-reducing-airborne-infectious-aerosol-exposure-and-communities-of-faith-building-guidance

Favorite AIVC’s Webinar on Covid-19 Ventilation related guidance – Recordings & Slides now available

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The Air Infiltration and Ventilation Centre with support from ASHRAE and REHVA  organized the webinar “COVID-19 Ventilation related guidance by ASHRAE and REHVA” and held on Friday November 20th, 2020 at 16:00-17:15 (CET).  The webinar presented the COVID-19 Ventilation related guidelines by REHVA and ASHRAE and had a closer look to the similarities and differences in both guidelines.

The recordings and the slides of the webinar are now available online at: https://www.aivc.org/event/20-november-2020-webinar-covid-19-ventilation-related-guidance-ashrae-and-rehva

Favorite Updated version of REHVA COVID-19 guidance

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REHVA published its first COVID-19 guidance mid-March 2020. After 2 updates (April and August), the fourth version is focusing on how to reopen and safely use buildings after the lockdown, providing advice on specific components, buildings/space types, and suggesting mitigation measures. The REHVA guidance summarises advice on the operation and use of building service systems during an epidemic of a coronavirus disease. The fourth version of the guidance document overwrites all previous ones. Updates are expected in the upcoming months as more academic data becomes available.

More information is available here: https://www.rehva.eu/activities/covid-19-guidance

Favorite REHVA online course on COVID-proof building operation

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The Federation of European Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning Associations (REHVA) is organizing an online course (~6 hours) covering key topics on how to resume activities, safely operate buildings and specifically use densely occupied indoor spaces during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The course is based on the REHVA COVID-19 guidance documents and its modules provide basic theoretical knowledge with hands-on information taught by REHVA experts. Participants get access also to the latest REHVA guidebooks on air filtration and the hygiene requirements of ventilation systems. After going through the training material, the trainees who also successfully complete the online exams obtain a certification.

More information is available here: https://www.rehva.eu/pre-registration-safe-building-operation-during-covid-19