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  • Author Author: tariq.ahmad
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Webinar Poll:  Which Topics Related to Air Quality Interest You the Most?

On December 9th, 2020 at 11 AM CT //  4 PM GMT: Honeywell will Discuss Air Quality:

 

Honeywell will be giving away 2 HAQ Air Quality monitors for asking the best questions during this webinar.   Furthermore, they are interested in which topics related to HVAC interest the community the most.  Don't see a topic that interests you? Let us know in the comments below!

  • The biggest air quality issue for me is pollen count, especially nasty ones like ragweed and oak. Pollen seems to be of a size that is hard to detect accurately. However there is certainly a need for it.

    The other aspect that is of interest is improving the measurement speed for things like CO2. Measurements of actual CO2 intake are very difficult, and measuring how CO2 dissipates in exhaled air is also tough.

  • in reply to 14rhb

      wrote:

     

    ...

     

    Interesting to see Covid-19 appear on that list. I'm assuming Honeywell aren't thinking that the Covid virus could be detected in ambient air ...

    More families that don't own a garden or a big house are forced to stay inside together in a limited space. Air quality is a factor for them.

  • A couple of thoughts on this.  I did attend the Honeywell webinar, and learned some things.  On climate change, my first thought is about how much electricity it takes to compress refrigerant gases in the air conditioning cycle.  But as they pointed out, the old refrigerants have a much higher warming factor that CO2.  Even newer R-134a has a high GWP of 1400 (1400 times equivalent CO2).  So the industry trend is toward hydrocarbons, which work well but are flammable, so therefore the manufacturers have to take flammability into account when designing their sensors.

     

    I like the idea of cycling the systems to beat back viruses by making the environment less favorable.  One of the reasons Covid-19 came up is because the webinar talked about HEPA filters and whether that could reduce virus particles in circulation.

  • in reply to tariq.ahmad
    Great to see you back here.   : -)

    Thank you image, I'm doing a bit of catchup currently having missed some great discussions and other fun content.

  • in reply to 14rhb

    Hi ,

     

    Great to see you back here.   : -)    I believe they are referring to HVAC industry trends but this is a great question.  The three areas of HVAC that will be focused on are ventilation, heating, and air conditioning.  Where Covid-19 would fit in would be ventilation especially with businesses and commerce opening during pandemic.  Wherever this is heading, I know personally, if I were to go to a restaurant or an office environment with people coming in and out then I would want to be somewhere that had very good ventilation.  Some older buildings where there isn't a lot of natural ventilation would be looking for solutions to breathe easier.   Hard to predict what the world will look like when this ends but I imagine where people are looking for innovation will be affected by what has happened in 2020.   I'm looking forward like the rest of you to hear what Honeywell has to say.   This is a topic that will be brought up during the presentation and I am eager like the rest of this to hear what they have to say.

     

    A sensor that could detect and categorize dust would also be great for anyone with any extreme allergies, such as how someone who is extremely allergic to cat dander.  I'm sure there is lot more there and will be interested to see what kinds of questions are asked regarding this.

  • Hi Tariq,

     

    Interesting to see Covid-19 appear on that list. I'm assuming Honeywell aren't thinking that the Covid virus could be detected in ambient air - although wouldn't that be great as alarms could be raised and the aircon shut down or placed into auto disinfect mode. However I vaguely recall better clean airflow is recommended as well as lower office temperatures (I could be wrong).

     

    This is just random thoughts here: maybe an HVAC could have an automatic mode where periodically it enters a 'Covid hostile' phase without the maintainance tam having to setup anything other than press a button - blowing cooler air than normally set? Modifying humidity to a less favorable level? Or periodically doing an internal HVAC clean - stopping airflow to blast filters with UV or closed cycle cleaning chemical? Such settings could be deterred until the office occupancy is low (i.e. nighttime) to minimise discomfort to staff, plus cycling temperatures up and down goes against energy efficiency.

     

    Back to sensors though. Air quality in buildings is important as we strive to maintain energy efficiency - we get build up of gases and 'dust' but every wondered what makes up dust? In strong sunlight you often see plenty of specks drifting about. I guess some are pieces of hair etc but in our modern world many are fibers from fabrics, clothing and carpets...many probably plastic in nature. A sensor that could detect and categorize dust would be key to making a great HVAC system for households.