admin

As world health experts have been saying for some time now, SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is indeed transmitted via airborne mechanisms, therefore posing a significant risk to occupants of indoor air spaces. This presents a real threat to reopening strategies of businesses and public buildings that conduct operations indoors such as restaurants, offices, and schools.

With reopenings from Covid-19 restrictions being delayed across the country, it is more important than ever for companies to assess airborne pathogen risks and make the necessary updates to their HVAC systems to ensure customers and employees are as safe as possible, and company risk remains low. As stated in a recent article from the EPA:

‘The layout and design of a building, as well as occupancy and type of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, can all impact potential airborne spread of the virus.’
– United States Environmental Protection Agency

With this in mind, StateSpace Engineering offers testing for HVAC systems to assess current airflow operations to determine if air exchange rates meet minimum local and federal regulations. This assessment includes:

HVAC testing to establish current airborne threat risk level- we help your business by zeroing in on existing HVAC system deficiencies.
Providing a detailed report that can be used as a reference document to ease customer and employee concerns, as well as provide a baseline for HVAC systems operations.
Providing recommendations regarding existing equipment to maximize air quality and minimize virus exposure risk.
Designing detailed specifications for system upgrades to minimize airborne transmission risk including improved filtration and UGVI when appropriate.
Documenting existing or planned upgrades for certification with upcoming local and national regulations.
Performing any necessary system upgrades once plans have been certified.

We find that warehouse owners and property managers are often unaware of how much can be saved in annual maintenance and CAPEX by decommissioning or omitting heaters that were typically required by code to maintain 40 F in their warehouse (reference NFPA 13 Chapter 8). This standard is enforced by the City of Houston and other jurisdictions as adopted by the local fire code to ensure that the fire safety systems such as sprinklers do not freeze during cold weather. The current edition of NFPA 13, however, now allows for this provision to be addressed via calculations by a licensed engineer that can demonstrate freezing conditions should not be encountered within the sprinkler system given that the building insulation is sufficient and the ambient winter conditions are not typically severe (looking at you, Texas). This thermal analysis must be performed by engineers specializing in transient, higher-order heat transfer calculations. StateSpace Engineering has innovated this technique for warehouse applications and our permitting specialist team was among the first to successfully obtain a heater removal permit in the City of Houston. Let us evaluate your space today and see if your warehouse is a good candidate for the safe removal of your heat generation systems.

Unit heaters and heating cable are often used in cold weather locations to prevent sprinkler systems from freezing.

Author: admin

COVID-19 Airborne risk assessment and mitigation

Heater Removal Analysis