The Economics of Clean Air

Forwood C. WiserDynamic Air Quality Solutions

The Intersection of IAQ, Energy,

& Maintenance

• IAQ – Clean & condition

• Energy – Heating, cooling, and moving

• Maintenance – Efficient performance

Engineered Systems that change

the economics, delivering

• Improved IAQ

• 1/3 the energy consumption

• A fraction of the maintenance

Dynamic Air Quality Solutions

• 30-year old company based in Princeton, NJ

• Award-winning systems to clean air and save energy and maintenance in buildings around the world…

• From Anthrax clean-ups to… the world’s most valuable art collection to… ASHRAE Headquarters

Products & Capabilities

• Bringing together knowledge, experience and technology to provide customers with the air quality they need and the energy and maintenance savings they want

• Advanced Engineered Solutions for commercial, institutional, medical, pharmaceutical and other critical applications

The Evolution of Indoor Air

• First man wanted heat

• Then cooling

• Then humidity control

• And now, Clean: airborne contaminant control

What is Indoor Air Quality?

• The basics…

From ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2012

Acceptable indoor air quality: air in which there are no known contaminants at harmful concentrations as determined by cognizant authorities and with which a substantial majority (80% or more) of the people exposed do not express dissatisfaction

• Beyond the Basics

– Application Requirements: LEED, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, clean mfg…

– Occupant requirements– people need and expect clean air

• Importance of Singapore Standard 554

What adversely impacts IAQ?

• Particles - 95+% smaller than .5 microns

• Biologicals - molds, bacteria, viruses

• Gas Phase - Ozone, VOC’s, CO2

Ultrafine Particles (UFPs) are the most dangerous and most of what is in the air

“…high pulmonary deposition efficiency, …UFPs surface can carry large amounts of adsorbed toxic air pollutants (oxidant gases, organic compounds, transition metals)”

(Oberdörster 2001)

Role of Ultrafine particles (UFP’s)• UFP’s are smaller than 0.1 micron

• NIH: “UFP’s dominate particle number concentrations and surface area and are capable of carrying large concentrations of adsorbed or condensed toxic air pollutants”

• “The UFP’s surface can carry large amount of adsorbed or condensed toxic air pollutants: oxidant gases, organic compounds, transition metals.”

• Inhalation of UFP’s is a major source for introducing cardiovascular and pulmonary stressors into the body.

And

• UFP’s deposit on electronic components and lead to premature failure.

Particle Size Distribution

What positively impacts IAQ?

From ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2012

air-cleaning system: a device or combination of devices applied to reduce the concentration of airborne contaminants, such as micro-organisms, dusts, fumes, respirable particles, other particulate matter, gases, and/or vapors in air

IAQ and Productivity

• “The primary function of a building is to increase productivity…”

• Indoor environmental quality is critical

• Even small improvements have been repeatedly shown to increase productivity and yield big benefits

• 1-1.5% greater productivity with Green IEQ

IAQ and Energy

• Commercial buildings consume 40% of all

energy in the United States• HVAC is over half of that• Supply and return fans are over half of that–

over 10+% of all energy!• Over 40% of the energy in some buildings…• 90% of the cost of filtration is energy

IAQ and Energy

• Who cares about energy

consumption? Everybody.

• Building owners, operators,

and tenants

• Utility rebates

• State and Federal incentives

• Local government benchmarking

• ASHRAE 90.1, LEED, Energy Star….

Case StudyASHRAE Headquarters

Cleaning Indoor/Outdoor Air

• Good IAQ means air that is free of harmful contaminants

• Particles, biologicals, and gas phase contaminants must be controlled

• There are direct consequences on the operating and productivity bottom line

Particle & Biological Removal

• The two bookends are passive filters and electrostatic precipitators (passive vs. active)

1. Passive Filters

- essentially a sieve

- more efficient (and flow

restrictive) as they load

- trade-off is efficiency

for pressure drop

Mechanisms of Passive Filters

• Impingement

• Interception

• Diffusion

• Straining-larger particles

Particle and Biological Removal: Electrostatic Precipitators

2. Electrostatic Precipitators

- particles are charged and attracted to oppositely charged plates

- low pressure drop and high efficiency when clean

- not efficient when dirty

- Ozone is generated

- charged particles stick

to grounded surfaces

- best for industrial applications

Gas Phase Removal

• Adsorption - the deposition of a gas on a solid

- Activated carbon is most common

• Chemisorption

- chemical reaction with potassium permanganate

• PCO - oxidation with photo-catalysis

- emerging technology

- ambient reduction vs. upstream/downstream

• Oxidation with Ozone and “Active Oxygen”

- not recommended by U.S. EPA

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Grounded external screens

~8 kV charged center screen

Polarized media fibers

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1. Passive mechanisms

2. Polarization and electrostatic attraction- polarized fibers collect polarized/charged particles

- charged center screen collects polarized/charged particles

3. Agglomeration- UFPs agglomerate to polarized/charged particles, odors,

VOCs and collect as they get larger

Dynamic Technology: Non-ionizing, active-field polarized media

Loading Characteristics

Polarized fiber

Passive fiber

The New Standard: Dynamic V8

• MERV–NC 15, MERV 13• UFP and VOC removal• Clean pressure drop: 0.28” w.g.• Most economical “final”: ~0.65” w.g.• Holds 8 X more dust there than a

cartridge filter at 1.4” w.g. • Typically no need for pre-filters• Maintenance cycles measured

in years• OSHPOD Seismic certification

The most effective and cost-effective way to ensure IAQ.

Maximum Cleaning

Count of 0.3 micron particles at 2,000 cfm

Maximum Loading

Loading impacts the ongoing costs of filtration

VOC Removal

Iowa Hospital

Case Study - Hospital Viamed

Performance and Impacts

The Dynamic V8 Air Cleaning System:

• MERV 13-15+

• 1/3 the operating cost of passive filters

• Removes Ultrafine Particle (UFPs)

• Significant reduction of VOCs and odors

• No need for pre-filters

• Typical design midlife of <0.5” w.g.

What does that mean?...

Performance: Particles

• ASHRAE Standard 26 testing performed by Blue Heaven in a hospital after approximately 1 year of operation showed V8 performed consistent with MERV 14-16 filtration:

– E1: 83%, E2: 95%, E3: 95%

• The same testing done at another hospital in the area with MERV 14 passive filters yielded results consistent with MERV 11:

– E1 49%, E2: 82%, E3: 95%

Performance: Particles

• Ultrafine Particles (UFPs)

– Post V8: Washington DC office building tests showed indoor levels of UFPs and black carbon 92-99% lower than outdoor levels

Performance: Gas Phase

• In manufacturing facility offices, VOCs levels ran over 75% less

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10,0

20,0

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Sat Sun Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri

Before Dynamic: 11/13/04 - 11/19/04

After Dynamic: 11/27/04 - 12/03/04

IndexManufacturing Facility Offices

Fort Smith, Arkansas

Aircuity Total VOCs

Performance: Particles & VOCs

• ASHRAE Headquarters living lab – Atlanta, GA

Performance: Energy

• Example: In a 60,000 cfm air handling unit using Dynamic V8’s instead of 95% cartridge filters with pre-filters saved:

• 91,000 kWh/year

• 11.7 BHP

• Over 1” w.g. of mid-life static pressure

• ASHRAE 90.1 design

point of .56” w.g. versus

1.4” w.g.

V8 95%

kWh

Performance: Energy

What saving 91,000 KWh/year savings means:

• $8-20,000/year

• Peak demand reduction

• Smaller fans

• ~2.25 kWh/ft2/yr savings

• 123,000 pounds of carbon

• 75kW PV system: 238 solar panels (5,538 ft),

• $250,000 versus $50,000 installed

• 107 cars not driven for one year

• 2,500 trees

Source: www.epa.gov/cleanenergy

Performance: Energy

You can spend $1 on Solar Panels to make energy…or spend 20¢ to save the same energy

– AND have better IAQ

– AND have less maintenance

– AND it fits in a mechanical room

Performance: Maintenance

Filter replacements incur:

• Media costs

• Transportation costs

• Storage costs

• Labor costs: direct and indirect

• Disposal costs

• Environmental costs

Real world results, no pre-filters, no replacement

• K-Street office building: 5 years and counting

• ASHRAE headquarters: 5 years and counting

• And many others on track for the same

Payback: Energy and Maintenance

• Example of Dynamic ROI Analysis - Garrett Library

Total System

Installed Cost

$48,079

Total Annual

Savings

$19,910

Simple Payback

1.9 Yrs

Case Study - Barnes Foundation

Dynamic Activated Carbon Matrix

• Precise gas phase contaminant removal

• Flexible configurations for specific applications

• Versacomb™ technology from MeadWestvaco

• 60% lower pressure drop than pellet systems

• Requires less space, lighter, no post filters

• Easier to use, maintain and replace

Dynamic Activated Carbon Matrix

• Performance

Xylene removal

Dynamic V8 and ACM Air Cleaning System installed at Clean Manufacturing Facility: Comparison Testing ofFiltered vs. Unfiltered Outside Air

• Measure H2S levels at AHU#1 discharge with “filtered” outside air.

• Measure H2S levels at AHU#3 discharge with “unfiltered” outside air.

AHU #1 Results Filtered (100% Outside Air)

AHU #1 Results Filtered (100% Outside Air)

Case Study WL Gore

ASHRAE 62.1 and Air Cleaning

• From ASHRAE 62.1-2012

– air-cleaning system: a device or combination of devices applied to reduce the concentration of airborne contaminants, such as microorganisms, dusts, fumes, respirable particles, other particulate matter, gases, and/or vapors in air

– ventilation: the process of supplying air to or removing air from a space for the purpose of controlling air contaminant levels, humidity, or temperature within the space.

– air, ventilation: that portion of supply air that is outdoor air plus any recirculated air that has been treated for the purpose of maintaining acceptable indoor air quality.

ASHRAE 62.1 and Air Cleaning

5.16 Air Classification and Recirculation. Air shall be

classified, and its recirculation shall be limited in accordance

with the following sections.

5.16.2 Redesignation

5.16.2.1 Air Cleaning. If air leaving a space or location

passes through an air-cleaning system, redesignation of the

cleaned air to a cleaner classification shall be permitted…

6.2.1 Outdoor Air Treatment. If outdoor air is judged to

be unacceptable in accordance with Section 4.1, each ventilation

system that provides outdoor air through a supply fan

shall comply with the following sections…..

62.1 Ventilation Rate Procedure

• Easiest and most widely used

• Based on assumptions about air quality and activities

• Prescriptive outdoor air levels assumes that the only means of reducing indoor contaminants is dilution with clean [cleaned] outdoor air

• i.e. minimal cleaning of re-circulated air

• Like heating and cooling without a thermostat

• Made more sense when smoking was permitted

How clean is outdoor air?• National Ambient Air Quality

Standards -

attained or non-attained

• Outdoor air is cleaner…

except where there are people

• Today, in urban environments,

contaminant levels are higher

outdoors than indoors.

• Over 95% of the Indoor Air

Quality issues we see are due to

Outdoor Air Quality

Buildings in most cities need

Outdoor Air Attainment Systems

How expensive is outdoor air?

City $/CFM City $/CFMBaton Rouge $2.50 Kansas City $2.54Boston $2.94 Lincoln $3.40Chicago $3.29 Los Angeles $0.97Cleveland $3.11 Madison, WI $3.67Dallas $2.43 Miami $2.74Denver $3.33 New York $2.70Detroit $3.11 Philadelphia $2.82Dutch Harbor AK $2.71 Pittsburgh $3.01El Paso $2.12 San Francisco $1.50Honolulu $1.69 Seattle $2.16Jacksonville $2.47

62.1-2012 IAQ Procedure

Allows for reduction of ventilation air with

• Air cleaning- cleaning and re-circulating indoor air

• Ventilation: Replacing dirty air with clean air

• No smoking, localized exhaust, etc.

• Good air flow patterns and air change rates

Direct solutions that better ensures IAQ

• Keeps “contaminants of concern” to acceptable levels

• Specific calculations incorporate both mass balance analysis and subjective evaluation

IAQ Procedure: Implementation

1. Identify the potential Contaminants of Concern

2. Do the math

– Dynamic AirQ™ program

– NIST ContamW program

3. Apply appropriate air cleaning

4. Monitor to confirm & fine tune

– e.g. Aircuity, BAPI, Honeywell

IAQ Procedure: Real World Results

• Existing Building (EB)

IAQ Procedure: Real World Results

• New construction

• Endeavor Elementary School in Tylersville, Ohio

• Design outdoor air: 5cfm/person

• Aircuity Air Cleanliness Rating: 100

• Measured average levels of PM 10, PM 2.5 and TVOC’s were less than half of the low targets

• Average CO2: 977ppm (extreme value = 1407ppm)

• Outdoor air was in the 94th percentile of the most polluted outdoor air in the country.

Case Study - Byrne Green