GPS: Improving IAQ and Mitigating Wildfire Smoke
Plus, How to Comply with ASHRAE’s New Infectious Aerosols Standard
How can airstream ionization help solve the problem of poor-quality ventilation air? We sat down with Peter Eno from GPS, who described the company’s technology and its applications for viewers of our most recent Coffee Break webinar.
Ask your SVL sales engineer for an invite to our upcoming Coffee Breaks. In these 45-minute sessions, a subject-matter expert will explain all the nuances of a particular HVAC challenge or technology. Stay up to date and earn PDH credits in the process!
How does ionization lead to better IAQ?
The concept of airstream ionization has been explored for over 100 years. It had never gained much traction because older versions of the technology split the oxygen molecule and produced ozone.
The founder of GPS worked with these old ionization technologies before discovering that carbon fiber is an excellent conveyor of electricity and can produce ions without producing ozone. GPS has now developed technologies that effectively mitigate bad outdoor air and enhance a filter’s capabilities.
Outdoor air quality has been especially terrible during these last few summers of rampant wildfires across North America. But it’s not as if you can shut off your building to the outdoors without levels of CO2 increasing to unhealthy concentrations.
GPS products agglomerate particles in an airstream so filters can more easily remove them. The particles in wildfire smoke are smaller than 1 micron in diameter — so small that standard (non-MERV) filters have limited ability to remove them.
Introducing charged ions in the airstream will flocculate these tiny particles into groups large enough for effective filtration. This strategy similarly helps remove airborne pathogens and VOCs from the air.
What is ASHRAE’s guidance on removing viruses from your airstream?
ASHRAE 241: Control of Infectious Aerosols directly responds to the federal government asking for direction on IAQ concerns for when the next pandemic inevitably arrives. ASHRAE is a lynchpin in that conversation, and the government wanted ASHRAE to spell out exactly how building owners can move forward.
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The standard establishes minimum requirements to reduce the risk of disease transmission through exposure to those aerosols in buildings. It becomes enforceable in January 2025 and will continue to evolve so that specifiers can make intelligent decisions about addressing this challenge for their building occupants. The standard explicitly mentions airstream ionization as one of the technologies that help remove these aerosols.
Remember that pathogens are particulate. Even VOCs, which are gasses, will host on a fine piece of particulate and ride the air current. When you agglomerate them, they are more easily removed. A molecule of virus is no different.
Are GPS products applicable to the IAQP in ASHRAE 62.1?
Yes! You can use more recirculated air when subjecting your return airstream to air cleaning procedures.
If your outdoor air load can be reduced credibly and safely, your architect will be thrilled — less tonnage, less electricity consumed, and less physical space to run extensive ductwork.
There are no downsides to ionization. It cleans the air, reduces outdoor air requirements, and makes building design more flexible.
If ionization groups particles together for easier filtration, is there a way to enhance the filter performance as well?
Opti-Lok from GPS is the solution you’re looking for. Standard filters come with an electrostatic charge that may last a few hours or weeks but will eventually dissipate. Opti-Lok imparts an electrostatic charge to whatever particles are coming into your filter.
Fine particulates, especially those in the sub-micron range, are a major component of wildfire smoke. GPS has run independent testing showing that Opti-Lok enhances a filter’s ability to remove these particles. This technology can improve a MERV 11 filter to MERV 13 performance.