COVID-19 Spotlight Falls on HVAC Systems

Much of the focus of stopping the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has fallen on research laboratories and hospital emergency rooms and ICUs, and that’s understandable. Those areas of facilities are the front lines of the battle. Further behind the scenes, though, are components and equipment that are essential to the new phase of the effort — HVAC systems.

With multiple vaccines now being rolled out, real hope exists that the world will gain the upper hand on the pandemic in 2021. To make that happen, the HVAC industry will play a key role, according to Hydrocarbons 21. In particular, it will provide the fridges needed to keep some of the vaccines at their required ultra-low temperatures. 

While vaccines are being distributed, mitigation measures to limit COVID-19 infections will continue to be needed in 2021. One of those is ensuring adequate ventilation in indoor spaces, such as adjusting centralized HVAC systems to pull in more outdoor air, and inserting MERV (13 and above) or HEPA air filters into HVAC units, or using standalone HEPA units. Another strategy is to keep the relative humidity in a room at 40-60 percent, particularly during the winter when indoor humidity drops.

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