We now have the mechanical equipment to create protective buildings, the tools to measure and track the connections between indoor climates, and the computing capabilities to correlate the data to tell us if we are doing things right.

The current illnesses from the new coronavirus outbreak, and the associated human fear, has renewed people’s interest in the potential of the indoor environment to contain disease transmission. 

Outbreaks of viral infections are unpredictable. We are currently dealing with one caused by a virus labelled COVID-19 which originated in Wuhan, China. 

In the wake of the 2020 ASHRAE Winter Conference and AHR Expo, let us look forward to the next era of innovation in the HVAC industry. 

Established in 2013, the Potsdam, New York-based St. Lawrence Health System is the largest employer in St. Lawrence County with 1,400-plus employees operating two hospitals and several extension outpatient facilities.

The recently publicized reports of children dying from Aspergillus fungal infections once again brings into question the culture around reporting errors in U.S. hospitals. 

ASHRAE Standard 62.1, “Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality,” is the gold standard for maintaining indoor air quality in occupied spaces. 

Evidence directly tying the indoor environment to states of health or disease continues to emerge.