Cassbeth Releases New Facility Ventilation Quality Improvement Indicators for Airborne Contagion Mitigation

Philadelphia, PA, November 04, 2023 --(PR.com)-- Cassbeth has developed new facility Ventilation Quality Improvement Indicators (QIIs) for airborne contagion mitigation. Effective ventilation is key to stopping the spread of airborne contagions in facilities. The challenge is to ensure that ventilation systems are properly operated, maintained, and correcting ventilation systems that are too small. Facility owners now have documented evidence that they use a QII to ensure that they have proper ventilation systems.

The QIIs are for all public and private buildings including: assisted living facilities, rehabilitation facilities, nursing homes, clinics, hospitals, medical offices, dental offices, eyecare offices, schools, libraries, offices, restaurants, retail stores, airports, train stations, homes, factories, warehouses, labs, animal facilities, theaters, concert halls, city halls, houses of worship, recreation facilities, police stations, courts and jails, public housing, public shelters, etc.

Using the QIIs: Tenants have documented evidence to show building owners of ventilation problems; Building users have documented evidence to show facility managers and higher authorities of ventilation problems; Facility managers have documented evidence that their automated alarm systems are not as effective as they think they are; There is documented evidence when outsourced HVAC energy management companies are dangerously reducing ventilation levels for short periods of time. Medicare and Medicaid are always looking for new quality improvement indicators. Building owners have documented evidence that they use a QII to ensure that they have proper ventilation systems. It is time for a Ventilation QII and this is it.

Data is collected by one of the normal room occupants. It can be rotated or even assigned to the IT staff, which typically visits most rooms. Data collection is simple and takes just a minute for a typical room. The QII can be executed with the documents using the supplied forms and or with the QII Data Collection (QIDC) software tool that is on the Internet using unique account access. The QIDC runs online or can be provided to IT staff for internal only access.

Ventilation is measured in terms of Air Changes per Hour (ACH) for mechanical systems or Equivalent ACH (eACH) for Ultraviolet (UV) based systems. People get infected with airborne contagions when the ventilation is off; the ACH=0. Empirical shows data that people get infected when the ACH=1. As the ACH level increases, the risk of infection drops. In many buildings it is obvious that some areas have poor ventilation performance levels. The air is stale and stagnant.

Proper indicators are critical to ensure effective room ventilation. Indicators like air quality particle sensors and CO2 monitors instill false confidence because they do not provide the room Air Changes per Hour (ACH) level. The only way to determine the ACH level in a room is to measure the air Feet Per Minute (FPM) from each vent and calculate the ACH level using the total vent surface area, FPM, and room cubic feet. The one variable that changes is FPM and it is based on operations, maintenance, and occupant actions. The higher the ACH level the lower the risk of infection. There are other indicators just as important as the ACH level that are part of the QIIs.

Public building maintenance is a challenge. Even the best facility management teams have issues like blocked vents, partially closed dampers because of complaints of hot or cold air, with sensors, timers, fans, and dampers that stop working properly and are not immediately fixed.

A building ventilation system is a life support system. If the ventilation is not working properly people and animals will be infected by airborne contagions. Ventilation performance is key to ensure that the risk of infection is minimized or eliminated in a room.

In mission critical systems engineering there are 2 old sayings: "(1) trust but verify and (2) never trust anyone instead develop a system to protect the people from themselves." The QIIs are based on this very important system concept.

The QIIs and QIDC flow from CassBeth’s Ventilation Protocol and Standard that are the result of CassBeth’s COVID-19 research from a systems perspective that started in 2020.

Available At:
www.cassbeth.com/qidc
press@cassbeth.com