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Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI) and Electrostatic Precipitation (ESP) kills viruses In line with our commitment to help our customers to reopen safely and deliver great Indoor Air Quality, Sigma Engineering Product Design Ltd. (SigmaEPD) has teamed up with Purified Air Ltd. to deliver excellent air quality to indoor spaces in Scotland. We use Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI) and Electrostatic Precipitation (ESP) to kill the virus in ducted systems and in our free standing units. This will allow us to deploy a wider range of appropriate technologies in each space to deal with the coronavirus. We supply several platforms to deal with the coronavirus which incorporates UVGI or uses a combination of UVGI+EPS as explained in the attached PDF. Both UVGI and ESP are recommended by ASHRAE and CIBSE to kill the coronavirus in enclosed spaces.

Ventilation and Safe Reopening Phew! What a time. The effects of the lockdown have left us all wondering what the future normal will look like. Events of the past three months have left everything to the imagination but have not done much to diminish the sense of vacuous surrealness that we all feel. But the human spirit has been gifted the ability to bounce back from tragedy. One of the great ingredients of bounce back is confidence, but our confidence has been knocked by this virus. Things like shaking hands, hugging our friends and loved ones, going to a restaurant for a meal, going to our place of work and even going to places of worship will all now be viewed with varying degrees of trepidation.   Meanwhile, the Government is beginning to ease some elements of the lockdown. This means we can now meet others in parks, in our backyards etc., which is great. Their confidence to allow such gatherings is because the virus does not thrive well in environments where there is an abundance of air movement. This churning of the air outdoors causes a diluting effect as high volumes of air go past the face. This air movement does not allow the virus to stagnate in our breathing zone thus lowering the chances of infection. They are now discussing the easing of further measures such as reopening places of work and leisure, and reducing social distancing from 2m to 1m. This is also great. But I believe that we need to reopen in an honest and intelligent manner. We need to identify the risks, communicate the risks and put measures in place to mitigate them if we are going to have any chance of protecting lives and not causing another spike in infection. To this end, the Government would be well advised to promote the proper ventilation of public spaces as a key feature of reopening. Our public health policies going forward must be predicated on our experience of the present epidemic and have capacity to deal with any future ones.  We cannot ban COVID-19 and other viruses from public spaces, but we can limit their impact. For instance, a close look has to be taken at the effectiveness of the ventilation of care homes. We need to deploy effective engineering controls to limit the spread of this and other viruses in public places as a matter of urgency. This may also help to limit the spread of the common flu from year to year. Good Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is vital to the safe and sustained reopening of the economy post-COVID-19. Moreover, there has never been a greater need for innovative ventilation to control contaminants indoors. The Design and installation of effective ventilation solutions aimed at diluting and removing contaminated air is going to be key in protecting people who enter public spaces in future.  Good IAQ may well become the distinguishing feature between two otherwise equally good restaurants. It is conceivable that people would make the calculation that the risk is too high to dine in a restaurant with poor ventilation in a post-COVID-19 world. Quality ventilation will therefore become a key selling point for hospitality venues. It will certainly be a crucial element for boosting confidence to all who are thinking of re-entering places of work, leisure, care homes, manufacturing etc. Simply reopening the economy is not enough.  Sigma Engineering Product Design Ltd. has a range of ventilation approaches that can deliver excellent indoor air quality with integrated green technologies that can help in this regard.

Toilet Ventilation In A Post - Covid World Toilets in hospitality venues will become a key area of focus as we begin the process of restarting the economy. Except for the entrance to buildings, it is the toilet that sees the highest concentration of traffic in dine-in venues. People move in and out of toilets, touching door handles, taps and flush handles. These hard surfaces provide a haven for the Coronavirus as it waits for its next host. The surfaces within the toilet become launch pads for the virus to be transported by hands into the eyes, nose or mouth of the next unsuspecting individual. This is another reason why the thorough washing of hands is so important when leaving the toilet. Things That Can Fly The preceding paragraph is concerning enough, but this is only part of the story. A second mode of transmission is even more dangerous. In the scenario described above, the individual has to touch an infected surface to become infected. Contactless taps, handles etc. would help in this regard. However, the aerosols produced when using the toilet and subsequent flushing can lead to dispersal of the virus into these enclosed spaces. This gives rise to possible direct ingestion of the virus through the eyes nose or mouth. The problem becomes even more challenging where the toilet comprises cubicles and have simultaneous multiple users. This scenario can result in the infection of many people at once. It is therefore necessary for us to re-examine the way we do toileting in hospitality venues and public buildings. We may need to rethink the cubicle idea and use our design skills to create the fresh outdoors inside. Our design needs to include a clear ventilation strategy along with a reconfiguration of toilet cubicles into enclosures.  Something To Concentrate The Mind If we want to limit the risk of infection spread in toilets. It is necessary to induce adequate air movement within the enclosure to capture and transport virus-carrying aerosols to a safe exhaust point outside. Borrowing a tried and tested method from Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV) can be useful in this regard. LEV is a ventilation strategy used in manufacturing and industrial processes to arrest harmful gases, fumes dust etc. The systems are designed so that the fumes do not enter the breathing zone of the operator. The infected person using the toilet is not the one at risk (He is carrying the virus). It is others using the toilet at the same time or those entering after who are at risk. Therefore, as part of the ventilation strategy it may be necessary to establish a clearance time for each enclosure and displaying it in plain sight. This would allow the ventilation system to remove contaminated air from the space, thus rendering the toilet a safer place to do business.   We are now living in a new normal. Toilets that do not smell fresh could result in patrons leaving a venue never to return. Contact Sigma today to discuss a ventilation strategy to help make your reopening safe.