Page 38 - Climate Control News Aug-Sep 2020
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  Indoor Air Quality
  There are no low cost, short term solutions for good ventilation.
Hefty price to pay for negligence
iting Academic Fellow in the School of Aero- space, Transport and Manufacturing at Cran- field University in the United Kingdom.
In the interests of public health, Dr Al-Attar said it is essential to work together to establish a non-commercial approach and neutral ground to educate a global audience on how to enhance air quality.
“SARS-CoV-2 is a global game changer and we need to challenge the existing standards, main- tenance practices and, most importantly, our- selves,” he said.
“WE NEED TO FOCUS ON THE DESIGN, INSTALLATION AND OPERATION OF VENTILATION SYSTEMS.”
– EUROVENT MD, MARKUS LATTNER.
Eurovent Middle East managing director, Markus Lattner, said improved IAQ is one of the group’s key objectives.
“Unfortunately, we now see how urgent this matter has become. We are positive that with the support and the expertise of Dr Al-Attar, we will be able to gain more attention on the design, in- stallation and operation of ventilation and air fil- tration systems,” Lattner said.
“We are excited to welcome him on board with us, as we know a joint effort is required by every- one to overcome the current crisis and prepare to stave off future threats to our societies.”
   THE CORONAVIRUS (SARS-COV-2) pan- demic has demonstrated the importance of ap- propriate building ventilation and air filtration selection, an issue that has been notoriously overlooked for decades, according to one of the world’s leading IAQ experts, Dr Iyad Al-Attar.
He said the entire world is now paying a hefty price for this negligence.
“It is of paramount importance for the com- munity to realise that there are no low cost, short term and over-the-counter solutions as far as de- signed ventilation and filtration systems are concerned,” Dr Al-Attar said.
“The first corrective action toward enhancing air quality is making an appropriate filter based
on the physical and chemical characterisation of the airborne contaminants in the air we breathe.” Dr Al-Attar pointed to a misinformation prob- lem, driven by commercial interests, which has overshadowed key messages that need to be un-
derstood – enhanced IAQ saves lives.
Dr Al-Attar’s comments follow his appoint- ment to Eurovent Middle East as its first Associ-
ated Consultant.
Eurovent has opened up membership to the
consultant community to support technical ex- change on a range of pressing issues. With his background in mechanical engineering, Dr Al- Attar is both an air filtration consultant and an environmental enthusiast. He is currently a Vis-
    Walls that breathe
  CTA CREATIVE ARCHITECTS recently de- signed a two-storey house with walls that breathe. Dubbed the wall house, it is made of eight blocks that all connect to a protective layer of
hollow bricks and lush greenery.
The design was based on recently published
research claiming indoor air quality is more pol- luted than outside air.
The house is in the Vietnamese city of Bien Hoa.
The breathing walls consist of two main ele- ments. There is an open wall system as the first layer to prevent pollution entering the outside environment.
This protection shell is made of hollow bricks as they allow fresh air to circulate and let natural light into the house.
The second layer is the garden space which prevents the negative impact of the ex-
“AN ABUNDANCE OF GREENERY CLEANS THE AIR AND CREATES A BUFFER ZONE.” – CTA CREATIVE ARCHITECTS.
ternal environment into the living space. An abundance of greenery helps to clean the air and creates an effective buffer zone. Together, these two protective layers are equivalent to a standard wall, but the important difference be- ing they ensure the circulation of air and light,
resulting in a healthier living space.
RIGHT: Hollow bricks allow fresh air to circulate and natural light into the house.
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