Air Purifiers, Fans, and Filters - A COVID-19 Explainer For Schools

06/01/2021 Air Purifiers, Fans, and Filters: A COVID-19 Explainer for Schools
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Air Purifiers, Fans, and Filters: A COVID-19 Explainer

for Schools
By Mark Lieberman — October 27, 2020 10 min read
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COVID-19 is surging in nearly every state, and public health experts are warning that colder
temperatures and increased indoor activity will mean the virus is likely to remain an urgent threat
for the foreseeable future.
At the same time, schools are grappling with the potentially devastating effects of learning loss,
social isolation, and diminished access to vital offerings for millions of students who haven’t been
in a physical classroom since March.
Faced with limited resources and uncertain prospects for relief from the federal government,
schools are in desperate need of clear, definitive guidance for reopening buildings safely and
maintaining in-person instruction over the long haul. Some teachers in Boston have been posting
pictures of their classrooms on social media and asking for guidance on whether their schools’
mitigation efforts are sufficient. (Boston officials have since since closed school buildings due to a
surge in COVID-19 cases.)
The role that air ventilation and filtration plays in slowing the spread of the virus is complex and
has been confusing for educators to parse. Some schools have been scrambling to upgrade their
HVAC systems and placing bulk orders for air purifying devices for classrooms. But questions
remain about the effectiveness of these measures and the precise approaches that are most likely
to succeed.
Education Week interviewed three experts on public health and air management, and a veteran
school facilities director, about ventilation, filtration, air purifiers, and related mitigation
measures. Here’s what they recommend schools prioritize in the months ahead.
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Why is clean air important for mitigating viral spread?

COVID-19 particles can live in the air for up to three hours. More ventilation (air movement) and
better filtration (air cleaning) can cut down on the number of airborne particles that linger when
an infected person coughs or exhales indoors. Airborne infection is 15 to 20 times more likely to
occur indoors than outdoors.
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What are the key elements for good air quality in a school building?
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The more the better, says Mark Benden, director of the Ergonomics Center at the Texas A&M
University School of Public Health. The ideal scenario would be a 72-degree day with windows
fully open, which would mean the indoor air is essentially indistinguishable from the outdoor air.
2. How much air inside the building recirculates from one place to another.
“If the air is being pulled away from us very rapidly, greater than six times per hour, we don’t have
very much chance to breathe the same air,” Benden said.
3. How often the indoor air gets filtered (cleaned) before being recirculated.
The faster the indoor air gets pushed through a strong filter, the less likely it will be that someone
will breathe in viral particles from another infected person in the same room, Benden said. He
recommends all schools have at least a MERV-13 filter in place in their mechanical filtration
systems. Many schools have a lower-strength filter, around a MERV-8 or 9. Benden likens the
difference to an N-95 mask and a cloth mask—both are effective, but one is much stronger than
the other.
The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers also

recommends schools use a MERV-13 filter or higher.
Keith Watkins, assistant director of facilities for the New Rochelle district in New York and
current president of the National School Plant Management Association, has implemented
MERV-15 filters in his district’s school buildings. But some schools’ mechanical systems can’t
1support such strong
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Why weren’t these upgrades made before COVID-19?
A federal watchdog group found earlier this year that 41 percent of school districts needed to
update or replace their air systems in at least half their schools.

Schools that have poor air quality tend to be hamstrung by costs, Benden said. They use cheap or
outdated air systems that don’t bring insolutions.
much outside air or clean the indoor air as often as would
be ideal.
“Since COVID, I think the blinders are off everyone,” heand
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(For more on this topic, read Education Week’s reporting from August on the wide variation in
schools’ HVAC capabilities.)
Does opening the windows help?
Yes. Opening windows even a couple inches “can really increase the number of air changes in the
room” said Joseph Gardner Allen, a professor of public health at Harvard University.
He recommends schools keep windows open as much as they can even when the weather gets
cold in some parts of the country. “Even if that means kids have to wear a heavier sweater, it’s the
simplest, most cost-effective strategy,” he said.
Should schools put air purifiers in every classroom?
Experts agree that stronger filters for the school’s existing ventilation system are a higher priority
than individual air purifiers for each classroom.
“The things that I’m proposing, you probably should do for general better air quality anyway, for
cold and flu,” Benden said. “If you are going to buy something that you plugged into the wall, get
a vaccine in the spring, then unplug it and throw it away, should you have bought that? No,
probably not.”
Allen believes portable air purifiers are only essential if a school is otherwise unable to improve its
existing systems for a higher building-wide filtration rate. They should be used along with
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Watkins’ district is not allowing air purifiers in classrooms—some are less effective than others, he
said, and most are more effective in an average bedroom than an average classroom. “There were
quite a few requests for them [from teachers] and they were all declined,” Watkins said.
to best
However, many schools practices,
lack mechanical insights,
filtration systems and filters strong
that can withstand
enough to adequately mitigate viral spread. That is why many have already been evaluating their
air systems since COVID-19 shut downsolutions.
school buildings nationwide in March. Red flags to look
out for include closed dampers, motors that have been turned off, and filters that were installed
haphazardly or incorrectly.
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“It’s akin to a tune-up for your car. The building needs a tune-up too,” Allen said.
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In those cases, portable HEPA air purifiers are a worthwhile tool, he said.
A “HEPA” (high-efficiency particulate air) filter is most commonly found in the air systems of
hospitals and airplanes. They “can theoretically remove at least 99.97% of dust, pollen, mold,
bacteria, and any airborne particles with a size of 0.3 microns,” according to the Environmental
Protection Agency.
How do I know which air purifier to get?
School districts should coordinate the purchases of purifiers for their buildings so they are
uniform, rather than allowing a patchwork of different products. A unified strategy would cut
down on the complexity of replacing filters across a school or district, and it will prevent purifiers
that haven’t been properly vetted from entering buildings.
Allen helped build this online tool to help schools figure out which devices will be most effective.
Important considerations include the size of the room, the number of people who will be in it, and
the typical arrangement of people within the space.
Schools may need to consult a local engineer or commissioning agent (someone who oversees and
advises on building design) to advise the best products for buildings, and the best placement for
classrooms, said Corey Metzger, chair of the schools team for ASHRAE’s epidemic task force.
These decisions have high stakes: A poorly placed air purifier could inadvertently push air with
infected particles from one part of the room to another. A loud filter that drowns out a teacher’s
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setting. Some classrooms might benefit from two medium-strength filters rather than one that’s at
full strength, Metzger said.
ASHRAE is working on a short document to help schools figure out their air purifier needs,
Metzger said. In the meantime, the organization has developed detailed guidance for schools on
air ventilation and filtration.
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What about filters that have UV rays? Are those safe?
No, in This
fact,site
those devices might even be dangerous,
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Benden said. Some get hot quickly and could
be fire hazards. Others emitcanodors or toxic gases like ozoneandthat can beByharmful toto
people at high
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“What do we need? We need clean, breathable air. What do we not need? We need to not cause
problems. We need to not run up the bill for electricity,” Benden said.
What about fans?
Small desk fans for a classroom likely wouldn’t hurt, Benden said, but they won’t make a
meaningful difference for slowing the spread of COVID-19.
Larger fans placed near an open window could be useful for accelerating the spread of outdoor air
in schools with no working HVAC system. But they could also blow viral particles away from the
filters and create more spread than if they were turned off. Benden recommends avoiding them.
What do this fall’s reopenings tell us about air quality priorities in schools?
Twelve percent of school districts are offering full-time in-person instruction, and another 65
percent are offering in-person instruction to some extent, according to a survey conducted earlier
this month by the EdWeek Research Center. While there have been scattered reports of
outbreaks, schools generally had not experienced significant COVID-19 spread in their buildings
through mid-October. To Benden, that’s an encouraging sign that schools are taking ventilation,
filtration, and other precautions seriously.
“We can dial up our current systems to really optimize, and we can do that with what we’ve got,”
Benden said. “It’s working.” (Read this Education Week article for more on in-person instruction
during COVID-19.)
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stories, would be useful as more schools aim to reopen in the next couple months, Allen said.
Similarly, states can do more to help—the Arizona state agency required to inspect school
buildings’ ventilation systems, for instance, hasn’t conducted reviews of school buildings this
year, the Arizona Republic reported this month.

Watkins has installed air particulate meters that can provide data on particles on surfaces and in
solutions.
the air. His district plans to use those numbers to inform future decisions on upgrading air
systems, he said.

I am a teacher. Who can
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In many cases, school and district facilities managers will have detailed information about
ventilation and air filtration. Some can even change settings on fans and filters in the school’s air
infrastructure remotely from their computers, Benden said.
Are air purifiers in short supply?
Several schools in Massachusetts and Rhode Island delayed the start of in-person instruction after
air purifier shipments hadn’t arrived due to supply chain issues. Those delays are likely to persist
as demand for these devices continues.
Allen lamented that many schools have had to turn to searching for guidance on the internet and
making individual purchases because the federal government hasn’t provided a nationally
coordinated strategic plan for ensuring buildings are safe and ready for students and teachers to
enter.
Will all this investment in improving air systems pay off in the long run?
Almost certainly. The same systems that filter out COVID-19 particles are simultaneously
removing allergens, dust mites, skin flakes, and other particles that can trigger allergies and
asthma in many students. One study in Los Angeles prior to the pandemic found improving
schools’ air quality could lead to better test scores for students.
The District of Columbia’s public school system has spent $24 million on HVAC upgrades in
preparation for school buildings to partially reopen next month. Watkins said upgrading air
1systems in his district
Free Article(s) Left cost around
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low as $35,000. His association, which has facilities directors from schools in 22 states, has been
an invaluable resource during a time when many long-established protocols have to be rethought.
“After 30 years, I feel like my career has started all over again,” he said.
Mark Lieberman FOLLOW
Reporter, Education Week

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Mark Lieberman is a reporter for Education Week covering technology and online learning.

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06/01/2021 Air Purifiers, Fans, and Filters: A COVID-19 Explainer for Schools

SCHOOL & DISTRICT MA N AGEMEN T EXPL AINER

Air Puriﬁers, Fans, and Filters: A COVID-19 Explainer

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The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers also

to best practices, insights, and

Does opening the windows help?

Should schools put air puriﬁers in every classroom?

How do I know which air puriﬁer to get?

What about fans?

to best practices, insights, and

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Are air puriﬁers in short supply?

Reporter, Education Week

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Related Tags: Health School Facilities & Design Coronavirus

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DATA: State Dashboards on COVID-19 in Schools and Instructional Models

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SCHOOL & DISTRICT MA NAGE ME NT

Mark Lieberman, November 11, 2020 • 17 min read

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SCHOOL CLIMATE & SA FE TY

Daarel Burnette II, August 12, 2020 • 5 min read

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What Needs to Change Inside School Buildings Before They Reopen

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Easing Teachers' Anxieties About Returning to School