Harvard Healthy Buildings Program, Lancet COVID-19 Commission Host Webinar on Improving Indoor Air Quality in LTC Facilities
On Dec. 16th, the Healthy Buildings Program at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Lancet COVID-19 Commission Task Force on Safe Work, Safe School, and Safe Travel held a webinar providing practical guidance on how to improve indoor air quality (IAQ) in long term care facilities.
The COVID-19 pandemic has elevated the relevance of IAQ and proved that buildings should be the first line of defense to reduce the spread of respiratory pathogens like SARS-CoV-2, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Improving ventilation and filtration in long term care facilities can help mitigate spread.
During the webinar, presenters outlined the first four steps facilities can take to improve IAQ:
- Commission or recommission building systems.
- Commissioning/recommissioning can ensure that building heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment is performing as intended.
- Maximize outdoor air.
- Increased outdoor air ventilation can dilute or displace airborne particles, including those carrying viruses, resulting in lower (or no) inhaled viral doses for susceptible individuals in an indoor space.
- Upgrade air filters to Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) 13.
- Upgrading filters on recirculated air to those with ratings of MERV 13 or higher will reduce the transport of airborne particles while systems are operating, which may help reduce airborne infectious disease transmission within rooms and between rooms.
- Supplement with portable air cleaners, where needed.
- Properly sized portable air cleaners with high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters can reduce in-room concentrations of airborne particles, including those carrying viral material.
More information on the Harvard Healthy Buildings Program and the Lancet COVID-19 Commission Task Force on Safe Work, Safe School, and Safe Travel is provided here and here.
Members are encouraged to share this information with their facilities directors and maintenance departments.
Contact: Amy Nelson, anelson@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8383 ext. 146