As companies around the globe welcome employees back to work in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many are leveraging ultraviolet light to help reduce the spread of the virus and give their employees confidence that their workplace is safe. The Chicago-based College of American Pathologists, which represents 18,000 board-certified physicians, is one such workplace. The group’s goal was to reduce the spread of infectious diseases and improve HVAC efficiency at the lowest possible installed cost across their 150,000-square-foot-campus and nearly 670 employees. They selected germicidal UV, recommended by both the CDC and ASHRAE as a recommended mitigation step to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Thermosystems LLC, the manufacturer’s representative working with the College of American Pathologists, recommended the high-output RLM Xtreme fixtureless UV-C lamp system from UV Resources. The two dozen 61-inch lamps were installed between the hot-water heating coils and chilled-water cooling coils. This leveraged the higher operating air temperatures of the system to reduce the total wattage of lamps needed to yield the desired dose for a high single-pass inactivation rate.
Following the successful project, the college then installed two GLO upper-room germicidal UV fixtures — also from UV Resources — in the building’s main reception area. Since the UV energy is overhead, room occupants are safe to go about their normal routine and return to work with confidence.
