COVID-19 was a stark reminder about the biological threats all around us. Social distancing, proper hand hygiene and wearing face masks helped slow but did not stop the spread of COVID-19, nor did they become engrained policies or procedures to stop the next dangerous pathogen which according to recent trends is due to emerge within the next year or two. Even with vaccines, we were still just playing more defense and not actually killing the dangerous pathogens in the air and on the surfaces all around us. But we can’t safely begin relaxing our defenses anytime soon until we reduce the viral load in the air we breathe and, on the surfaces, we touch all around us.
100% of contamination events occur from someone breathing, talking, coughing, sneezing or singing in a space or onto their hands which they later touch surfaces with. The goal is to reduce the viral or bacterial load in the air and on the surfaces, the particles fall to or are touched by a contaminated person as completely and quickly as possible after a contamination event and there is simply nothing more immediate and effective than UV lighting at doing so.
In-room UV lighting has been clinically shown to provide the equivalent or better of an extra N95 mask for every occupant in a space and allows us to start playing offense and reduce the viral load instead of just playing defense.
In July of 2023, ASHRAE established a new Standard for the Control of Infectious Aerosols. This new standard is being implemented by architects and facility owners and operators to protect themselves from the prospective liability of doing nothing (similar to fire protections etc). As this standard becomes integrated into building codes, UV solutions will be significantly favored given their efficacy, energy and cost advantages.
