Clean air Imperative: Creating Healthy Spaces With Smart Technology - Part two of a Blog by Dr Sally Eaves

Clean Air Imperative: Creating Healthy Spaces with Smart Technology Helping Us All to Work, Learn, Collaborate and Create!

In July 2021, Johnson Controls hosted a webinar with a panel of experts - including award winning international keynote speaker, author and influencer Dr. Sally Eaves – on the topic of improving clean air within buildings. In her second blog following the event, Dr. Eaves outlines how your business can be negatively impacted by the consequences of unclean air – no matter your industry.

Clean Air Plans by Industry

Finally, let’s explore two additional industries in more detail, namely education and data centres which can sometimes be overlooked in the clean air discussion, yet both afford vital roles and have particular needs.

Data Centres

As the pandemic took hold, the often ‘invisible’ operations within data centres were rightly classed within the definition of ‘essential services’ in most countries around the globe, playing a critical role in keeping us all connected. And with data volumes continuing to rise, this is absolutely set to continue. Putting this into context with research by TechJury, during 2020 every person generated 1.7 megabytes of data in a single second, with internet users generating approximately 2.5 quintillion bytes of data each day – staggering! But this comes at an energy cost, with the pivotal role of air-conditioning systems (HVAC) within data centres accounting for 35% of their total electricity consumption. It brings to the fore the core role of indoor air in these facilities, including monitoring, regulating and measuring temperature and humidity. This is vital to protect against damage to, and contamination of, critical technology components such as CPU, GPU and hard drives and negate against the risk of both expensive and trust eroding service disruption. With Gartner estimating the average cost of IT downtime at some $5,600 per minute, it is no wonder that this is a leading information technology concern for IT management in data centres – and beyond!

Education

As the transition beyond the pandemic continues, a return to in-person education for the fast approaching new academic year is front of mind for many. Peace of mind matters - helping teachers, students and families alike feel good about in-person learning, especially as the physical environment plays such a critical role in cultivating a productive educational setting, from health to productivity. Examples include distraction caused by noise pollution, overhead lighting interfering with natural biorhythms and absenteeism caused by the transmission of viruses, linking directly to our core theme. Air quality is not just a health issue, it can affect students’ ability to learn too. 

As with all sectors, evaluating the current environment and airflow system is the right way to start, with a full risk assessment. But particular sectoral challenges include analysing a school or university’s most occupied spaces, especially given the volume of students involved, and ensuring technology solutions such as portable HEPA filters have low decibel levels to allow a peaceful study setting. Some excellent resources for clean air in education are available here alongside a school case study of technology implementation within the research itself.

Finally, as we look ahead to COP26 and strive to come together to improve the health and sustainability of our planet, it is clear that the time is now to safeguard where we actually spend the most time – buildings. And this can be achieved with the use of multiple clean air technologies, tailored to both industry and organisational context, but which must be implemented together. In this Age of Convergence, connection and communication are key to enable these technologies to share data real-time and learn from one another, establishing a clean air ecosystem; all supported by the use of an integrated platform and investment in awareness and culture too.

To read more about why a clean air strategy is vital for your business, how other industries are implementing the technology, and what you can do to get started on your journey – download the latest research report from Johnson Controls click here.

And to read Dr. Sally Eaves first blog on this topic, please click here.