Page 30 - Climate Control News Magazine Feb 2019

Indoor Air Quality
Online psychrometric calculator
CONDAIR HAS LAUNCHED
an innovative new website in Australia, www.condair.com.au, with features including an online product selector tool and psy- chrometric calculator.
The online product selector guides users wanting to select a humidifier through a series of multiple choice questions. As the user progresses through the se- lection criteria, a shortlist of hu- midification systems is present- ed and refined, depending on the user’s requirements, until finally an ideal humidifier or shortlist of products is suggested for the us- er’s project.
The online product selector
takes into account many factors
ble energy supplies, budget, type of application, in-room or in-duct humidification and desired level of energy consumption.
For users who want to know what size humid- ification system they need for a project, the Con- dair web site’s psychrometric calculator will
The new site has a long list of features.
son from Condair’s team of hu- midification and evaporative cooling specialists but these online resources provide addi- tional 24/7 support for consult- ants and contractors working on a humidification project. Other site features include product information, applica- tion advice and project news. The new web site is part of the company’s rebranding activi- ties from Aireven to Condair, following the company’s acqui- sition by global Condair Group in 2018.
With 700 employees and pro- duction sites in Europe, North America and China, the Condair
such as availa-
provide a humidity load in kg/h. The user simply needs to input certain environmental parame- ters of the project, for either in-room or in-duct humidity control, and the calculator will pro- vide a suggested humidification output to maintain the required humidity level.
As always, expert advice is available in per-
Group is a leading manufacturer of commercial and industrial humidification and evaporative cooling systems.
The company is represented in 20 counties by its own sales and service organisations, and supported by distribution partners in a fur- ther 50 countries.
Local research on climate health woefully inadequate
In November 2016, Melbourne experienced “the world’s largest, most catastrophic epidem- ic thunderstorm asthma event” that caused thousands of emergency department presenta- tions, hundreds of asthma-related hospital ad- missions and 10 deaths. The odds of such ex- treme weather events are
greatly increased with cli-
mate change. Evidence
shows that higher tem-
peratures can also lead
to increased production
of fungal spores, another
trigger for many suscep-
tible people, as well as
boosting indoor mois-
ture and mould growth,
which can cause allergic
reactions.
“It could be argued that these impacts pose a serious climate change-human health risk to Australia and that they should therefore be among Australia’s climate change-human health priorities,” Beggs said.
“But Australia’s research efforts in this area have been woefully inadequate, and much of the international research has been done in climates unlike our own, involving allergens that are not common here.”
A RISE IN dangerous and even fatal asthma and other allergic attacks could be one of Australia’s biggest health challenges from cli- mate change.
The warning was published by the Sax Insti- tute in the latest issue of Public Health Research & Practice, which looked at studies since 2000 relating to climate change, allergens and allergy.
It included recent research from Europe and North America that finds higher temperatures
and more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will significantly boost levels of allergens in the air such as grass pollen.
At the same time, the pollen season is changing, starting earlier and going on for longer. Author of the review, Associate Professor Paul Beggs, from Macquarie University’s Department of Environ- mental Sciences, Sydney, said almost all the re- search about climate change’s effects on allergies is from overseas. “Therefore, Australian-focused
research is urgently needed,” Beggs said. He also found that Australia’s systems for monitoring, reporting and forecasting atmospheric con- centrations of allergens such as pol- len were not fit for purpose.
The review notes that allergic illness is “already a very significant public health issue in Australia”. Asthma prev- alence in Australia is among the high- est in the world, with some estimates suggesting one child in five has wheeze symptoms and one in 13 has asthma.
Associate Professor, Paul Beggs
CLIMATECONTROLNEWS.COM.AU
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