COVID-101: How School Facility Managers are Preparing for the Fall
Just as schools K-12 through higher education begin to unveil their plans for the fall, the nation is seeing a spike in cases of coronavirus. Regardless of how this may impact these plans, school facility managers are already preparing for any possible scenario. And their plans go well beyond surface cleaning, social distancing, and PPE, HVAC systems are being reviewed closely by facility managers to ensure the buildings are as clean and as healthy as possible.
Aeroseal’s latest webinar, “COVID-101: How School Facility Managers are Preparing for the Fall” looked at the HVAC system’s critical role in school plans to prepare facilities and to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Aeroseal’s April Frakes and Art Wagner were joined by Aspen Environmental’s Tom Holmes for the discussion. Holmes and Aspen Environmental have a well-established tenure helping schools identify and fix issues with their airflow and ventilation systems.
The full-length recording of the webinar is below. Click here for more information on Aeroseal’s commercial duct sealing capabilities.
HVAC’s Healthy Building Impact
To start the discussion, guidelines from the CDC and ASHRAE were reviewed along with the Harvard School for Public Health’s work regarding healthy buildings. In fact, the majority of It’s nine foundations of a Healthy Building can be impacted by a building’s HVAC system.
To start the discussion, guidelines from the CDC and ASHRAE were reviewed along with the Harvard School for Public Health’s work regarding healthy buildings. In fact, the majority of It’s nine foundations of a Healthy Building can be impacted by a building’s HVAC system.
And while the CDC and ASHRAE guidelines are fairly straightforward, schools can’t comply with these guidelines if the buildings have leaky ductwork. Just looking at the supply duct leakage shows up to 40 percent of the conditioned air never gets to the intended space. Similarly, the fresh air being sent to the return ductwork for exhaust is also short-circuited if the ducts are leaky.
Ductwork is typically evaluated, repaired, and sealed to improve the energy savings for school facilities. In fact, Tom Holmes noted, “you can’t control the energy if you can’t control the air.” But especially in the new normal, it’s clear that energy savings aren’t the only expectation of duct sealing. Luckily cleaner air and energy savings can be complementary goals using the Aeroseal duct sealing technology.
“You Can’t Control the Energy If You Don’t Control the Air” — Tom Holmes, Aspen Environmental
To reinforce this, Holmes summarized one of his many school projects. The educational facility had a 20-year-old air handling unit and was only operating at 45% effectiveness. After conducting three different seals, the facility’s air handling unit could operate as designed and deliver 10,000 CFM. This also resulted in cleaner air and saved the school $7,000 annually with a three-year return on investment.
Adding to Holmes’ summary, Frakes shared just three school case studies from Aeroseal’s project portfolio.
- Clinton Prairie Schools’ Middle and High School
- LA Unified School District’s 93rd Street School
- West Texas A&M University’s Cornette Library
The bottom line is clear — as school facility managers rush to put their plans into place, duct sealing is a powerful tool to help prepare cleaner and healthier facilities and help prevent the spread of coronavirus. It can also help schools save energy and money.