Managing Indoor Air Quality to Keep America Open

Thousands of businesses have gone under forever due to government-mandated closures. The arbitrary designations of essential and non-essential businesses, along with the permanent closures of tens of thousands of businesses, is unsustainable.

Bureaucrats are making decisions to “keep us safe” but doing nothing to keep us from going bankrupt, losing jobs, and facing foreclosures. Businessmen and businesswomen make great decisions on the operation of governments; bureaucrats do not make good decisions on the operation of businesses.

Current lockdown policies are producing devastating effects on short and long-term public health. The results (to name a few) include lower childhood vaccination rates, worsening cardiovascular disease outcomes, fewer cancer screenings and deteriorating mental health – leading to greater excess mortality in years to come, with the working class and younger members of society carrying the heaviest burden. Keeping students out of school is a grave injustice. 

The Great Barrington Declaration – As infectious disease epidemiologists and public health scientists we have grave concerns about the damaging physical and mental health impacts of the prevailing COVID-19 policies, and recommend an approach we call Focused Protection.

“The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help. “ President Ronald Reagan

In his 1981 inaugural address, President Reagan said, “Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem.” The fundamental role of government is found in the Declaration of independence. It is to secure—to make certain of; ensure — our natural rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

All legitimate businesses exist to solve problems. The overarching challenge in America is to keep American businesses and churches open in order to solve day to day problems facing our fellow citizens. Permanent closures of businesses in Hawaii, California, and New York states number in the tens of thousands as state governments decide with businesses are essential or nonessential. How is this working for us so far?

It’s past time for businessmen and businesswomen to lead the politicians.

The SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic originated in Wuhan, China and now affects the lives of every living human being on planet earth.

Early this year of 2020, I met with the City Manager and the City Engineer to discuss means of mitigating the spread of the dreaded communist Chinese virus.

Setting up the premise of a deadly waterborne pathogen making its way to the city through the water supply, I asked the engineer, “Which would you do? Would you hire crews to scrub down public water fountains or would you scrub the water?” She replied, “Scrub the water.” Common sense. Solid science.

Governments direct us to lockdown businesses, scrub shopping carts, disinfect table tops, stand six feet apart, limit private gatherings at funerals and within our homes. Why do federal, state, or local governments not address scrubbing the air?

The Problem: AN AIRBORNE PATHOGEN

Droplets ejected during coughs and sneezes can spread in the air and contaminate the surfaces they land on. But it’s the smaller droplets that turn into aerosols that you really need to worry about. Aerosols can linger in the air for longer periods of time and travel longer distances than we previously thought. That’s the worst thing about the coronavirus and one that’s still not properly addressed by health organizations.

BGR News, 5 Oct 2020 | This is what the CDC isn’t telling us about the scariest way COVID-19 spreads

The Solution: SCRUB THE AIR

The objective of this post is to identify specific actions that will scrub the air within habitable structures for the purpose of enabling us to go about out daily lives without disastrous shutdowns, lockdowns, and quarantines.

The focus is indoor air quality (IAQ).

There is no singular ‘fix’. There are multiple factors to address.

• Understand the problem: An Airborne Pathogen
• Air Filtration
• Ventilation
• Airflow Direction
• Relative Humidity Control
• Scrub The Air
• Air Handling System Sanitation (see UV coil sterilizer at bottom of the Scrub The Air page)
• Measurement and Verification (Metrics)
• Public Confidence (Resolving Fear)
• Water – Fun Facts and Physics

All remedial actions should be under the direction of experienced professionals.

Where do you start? The budget, individual/institutional/company priorities, and common sense govern choices.

Where is the best place to start? Somewhere is a great first step.

As Max Lucado says, “No one can do everything [at once], but everyone can do something [at once].”

CAUTION | Owners who reactively implement system changes without regard for secondary consequences will inherit long-lasting cost and performance impacts. Learn more from Engineered Systems magazine – Wasted: The Sleeping Giants of the Pandemic and How to Push Back

The least costly is the building of public confidence. Communicate, publicize the actions you are initiating to build hope in the hearts and minds of the occupants of the property.