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This summer, wildfires have affected parts of the country that normally don’t see much wildfire action, like states in the upper Midwest or on the east coast. It’s resulted in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Quality Index hitting its highest levels in many areas, meaning the air was dangerous to breathe for every person occupying those areas, not just those with high risks.

The result: more homeowners and building owners learning about air pollution and, in turn, more potential HVAC customers paying attention to home and building IAQ (indoor air quality).

Today, IAQ requires a layered approach from HVAC contractors in order to effectively educate their customers and improve their IAQ. To do this, they have to focus on ensuring their customers are successfully informed on regular HVAC system maintenance, proper ventilation, air filtration, and purification, and then recommend technologies and products that work well together.

Prevention

HVAC contractors have an opportunity, even before installing IAQ technology, to arm their customers with solutions to protect their indoor environment in case of something like a wildfire.

Atlantic Westchester, in Bedford Hills, New York, does this by placing a heavy focus on educating their customers on the importance of good IAQ. They provide them with information on mitigating risks during wildfires, then encourage regular preventive maintenance.

“Contractors should emphasize the significance of scheduled maintenance, filter replacements, and duct cleaning to ensure optimal performance and effective filtration, especially during active wildfire seasons,” said Brian Hoffmann, director of projects and automation at Atlantic Westchester.

PREVENT: To maintain good IAQ in a building, it is important to monitor air quality. (Courtesy of Johnson Controls)

Recommendations beyond that include appropriate action when air pollution levels rise, such as installing IAQ monitors that enable proactive monitoring, activating air purifiers, or closing windows, Hoffmann said.

Dave Jones, assistant director, Go-To-Market at Broan-NuTone, said the first line of defense contractors can offer customers is to seal the house as much as possible — closing doors and windows (or even taping them off) and placing damp towels at the base of leaky doors.

However, recommendations on preventive maintenance — much like IAQ technologies and products in general — combat air pollution the most effectively when they are working in tandem. So in this case, sealing windows and doors is only part of what a contractor should recommend.

“Once sources of pollution are sealed off, contractors can talk about filtration,” said Jones. “Put the highest level of filter in the AHU that it is rated to handle. Compliment that filter with stand-alone air purifiers that have True HEPA filters. Sealing off a home and using high quality filters will only clean some of the pollution in the air in the home. Gasses, for the most part, cannot be scrubbed. That’s where a conversation can be had around fresh air systems.”

Filtration, Purification, Ventilation

In order to maintain good air quality, which requires air filtration, purification, and proper ventilation, IAQ must be monitored. Most homeowners are not aware of whether or not they have positive IAQ, which means a lot of those associated problems remain under the radar, undetected.

Jon Douglas, director of healthy building services and solutions, Johnson Controls, said he’s seen routine IAQ problems go undetected for long periods of time. The solution: the right recommendations and information.

“We recommend installing good-quality indoor air quality sensors in the space to measure the following parameters: temperature, relative humidity, carbon dioxide particulate matter, and total volatile organic compounds,” Douglas said. “Particulate matter (PM) sensors measure the direct impact of wildfires on indoor air quality.”

Jones said that most scientists anticipate more fires and worse air quality in years to come, so HVAC contractors should consider recommending an air handler that can handle a HEPA filter and a fresh air system smart enough to know when it should and should not bring in outside air.

“Purifying and enhancing indoor air can help improve the overall health of your home, and your HVAC system can be a hero here,” said Jones.

According to Jones, a quality energy or heat recovery ventilator (E/HRV) should have a MERV-rated filter on the incoming air stream. For those homeowners at high risk or especially concerned about IAQ, an ERV with a HEPA filter is an excellent option, he said.

“An ERV can also dump air into the return of the AHU, using its filter to scrub the air a second time before it is heated/cooled and distributed,” said Jones. “Using an air quality monitoring system that can control the fresh air system is ideal, because it will turn off the incoming airstream when high levels of outdoor air pollution are present, and then turn it back on when levels are safe.”

Since a key component of IAQ is outside air ventilation, it’s vital that that outdoor air is filtered. Doing so reduces the number of gas-based contaminants in a building, especially in the case of wildfires.

“Many buildings use a low-efficiency filter. We encourage building managers and building operators to improve the efficiency of their filter to reduce the number of particles brought into the building,” said Douglas. “We would encourage building operators to run a MERV 13 filter on their outside air, especially in times of wildfires.”

Residential homes will most likely have a simple, medium-efficiency filter typically rated at a MERV 7 or MERV 8. If that’s the case, Douglas recommends the homeowner also upgrade to a MERV 13 filter.

“If that is not enough, I would recommend buying small portable air cleaners at any online retailer,” Douglas said. “The key parameter to look for is the clean air delivery rate. The higher the cleaner delivery rate, the better.”

Layering in Technology

After optimizing air filtration systems such as HEPA filters or activated carbon filters that work to remove the finest of particles, the next step in the clean air equation is layering in installed IAQ products.

For commercial buildings, that often means the building management system (BMS). Atlantic Westchester leverages BMS to proactively connect remotely with their clients’ HVAC systems in order to temporarily adjust and lower the minimum outside air settings on the HVAC equipment.

Another popular technology — due to its ability to remove to remove particles, odors, and airborne microorganisms from the breathable airspace — is needlepoint bipolar ionization, which is becoming more and more part of the layered approach to IAQ.

“Providing better filtration, coupled with an engineered solution like needlepoint bipolar ionization to enhance filtration and reduce particles in the space where people work and congregate, is what we’ve chosen to promote,” said Hoffmann. “We also recommend treating the outside air before it enters into the building’s ventilation system.”

Atlantic Westchester uses Opti-Lok, which Hoffmann explained as “filtration optimization via electrostatics created by the technology that helps remove more of the ultra-fine contaminants that come into the building with ventilation airflow,” to achieve this goal.

Broan-NuTone offers products like range hoods for powerful ventilation and exhaust fans to remove stale, polluted air from indoor spaces, protecting against mold and mildew growth while removing unpleasant odors.

“Providing fresh air is equally as important as getting rid of stale air,” said Jones. “Building codes are driving more energy efficiency, which means homes are being built tighter, increasing the need for mechanical ventilation. Broan’s AI Series ERVs and HRVs provide fresh, filtered air while tempering the incoming airstream to reduce energy loss while providing ventilation.”