Sick Building Syndrome & Building Related Illness

Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) is an instance where the occupants of a particular building suffer from health that do not have any cause or illness to it but are linked to the time spent in the building. 

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), sick building syndrome is strongly suspected when the following circumstances are present:

• Symptoms are temporally related to time spent in a particular building or part of a building
• Symptoms resolve when the individual is not in the building
• Symptoms recur seasonally (heating, cooling)
• Co-workers, peers have noted similar complaints

Frequently, problems result when a building is operated or maintained in a manner that is inconsistent with its original design or prescribed operating procedures. Sometimes indoor air problems are a result of poor building design or occupant activities.  In most cases sick building syndrome occurs in office buildings, although it may also occur in other communal buildings such as schools and apartment buildings.

Building Related Illness (BRI) is used when symptoms of diagnosable illness are identified and can be attributed directly to airborne building contaminants. Examples of building related illnesses are Legionnaires' disease and hypersensitivity pneumonitis.

Indicators of BRI include:

• Building occupants complain of symptoms such as cough; chest tightness; fever, chills; and muscle aches
• The symptoms can be clinically defined and have clearly identifiable causes.
• Complainants may require prolonged recovery times after leaving the building.

Symptoms of SBS range from specific symptoms such as headache, itchy eyes, skin rashes, and nasal allergy symptoms, dry cough, rashes, dizziness, nausea, fatigue, aches and pains, difficulty in concentrating and sensitivity to odours.

SBS reduces worker productivity and may also increase absenteeism.

Causes of SBS

These following elements may act separately or in combination to lead to SBS

• Chemical contaminants from outdoor sources: Outdoor air that enters a building can be a source of indoor pollution. Pollutants from motor vehicle exhausts, plumbing vents, and building exhausts (bathrooms and kitchens) can enter the building through poorly located air intake vents, windows, and other openings. 

• Chemical contaminants from indoor sources: Most indoor air pollution comes from sources inside the building. For example, adhesives, upholstery, carpeting, copy machines, manufactured wood products, cleaning agents and pesticides may emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) including formaldehyde. Research shows that some VOCs can cause chronic and acute health effects at high concentrations, and some are known carcinogens. Low to moderate levels of multiple VOCs may also produce acute reactions. Combustion products such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, as well as respirable particles, can come from unvented kerosene and gas space heaters, wood stoves, fireplaces and gas stoves. Environmental tobacco smoke and combustion products from stoves, fireplaces, and unvented space heaters all can put chemical contaminants into the air.

• Biological contaminants: Bacteria, molds, pollen, and viruses are types of biological contaminants. These contaminants can breed in stagnant water that gets accumulated in humidifiers, drain pans, and ducts, or any place like ceiling tiles, insulation, or carpet. Sometimes insects or bird droppings can be a source of biological contaminants. Biological contaminants can cause fever, chills, cough, chest tightness, muscle aches, and allergic reactions. One indoor air bacterium, Legionella, has caused both Pontiac Fever and Legionnaire's Disease.  

• Inadequate ventilation: In the 1970s the oil embargo led building designers to make buildings more airtight, with less outdoor air ventilation, in order to improve energy efficiency. These reduced ventilation rates have been found to be, in many cases, inadequate to maintain the health and comfort of building occupants.  Inadequate ventilation, which may also occur if heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems do not effectively distribute air to people in the building, is thought to be an important factor in SBS. In an effort to achieve acceptable IAQ while minimizing energy consumption, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) recently revised its ventilation standard to provide a minimum of 15 cfm of outdoor air per person (20 cfm/person in office spaces). Upto 60 cfm/person may be required in some spaces (such as smoking lounges) depending on the activities that normally occur in that space

Heat Recovery Wheel and its Operating Principle

Ventilation purges the conditioned space of unwanted pollutants such as organic vapors, dusts, radon and also unwanted product of human activity such as tobacco smoke, carbon dioxide, bacteria and germs.

While ventilation has its benefits, it also increases the cost of air-conditioning. Heat Recovery Wheels greatly help in reducing both operating & initial equipment cost of air conditioning systems. It further helps in energy conservation.

Heat Recovery Wheel is a rotary, counter flow air-to-air heat exchanger designed to provide maximum energy efficiency in ventilation systems where heated and cooled air is exhausted. 

InviroTech partners with Klingeburg to bring to you Hugo Heat Recovery Wheels which are high performance and of certified quality.

Working of Heat Recovery Wheel

The wheel is positioned in an AHU so that it is divided into two half-moon sections.

Stale exhaust air is drawn through one half and fresh outdoor air through the other in a counter flow pattern. The wheel is in rotation all this while.

Sensible heat is transferred as the metallic substrate picks up and stores heat from the warmer air stream and gives it up to the cooler one.

Latent heat is transferred as the desiccant coating on the metallic substrate adsorbs moisture from the air stream that has the higher humidity ratio and releases the moisture into the air stream that has the lower humidity ratio.

It is positioned within the supply and exhaust air streams of an AHU in order to recover the heat energy.

InviroShield UVGI Systems for Healthy & Safe Indoor Air

InviroShield Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI) Systems, a product from InviroTech Systems, is your shield against harmful micro-organisms in the air you breathe.

Viruses, bacteria, molds, spores, fungus, etc. can grow rampantly inside the damp and dark HVAC systems and get distributed all over the buildings through the air conditioning systems, thus making your Indoor Environment infectious, unhealthy and unsafe to breathe.

Research has shown that building occupants exposed to such unhealthy environment can develop health issues, including sinus, congestion, headaches, allergy, asthma, upper respiratory ailments, along with colds and flu, commonly referred to as ‘Sick Building Syndrome.’

Further, mold and bacteria built on cooling coils reduce the space between the fins and increases the pressure drop through the coil, resulting in higher operating cost of AHU fans. 

How UVGI Systems work?

UVC rays of 254 nm wavelength, generated by the UVGI Systems, are highly effective in killing germs without use of any harsh methods like chemical cleaning or steam injections. UVC rays disrupts the reproduction cycle of germs by attacking their DNA and therefore is a completely safe, environment-friendly and most efficient method for removing mold and bacteria from coils and drain pan surfaces.

UVC rays from InviroShield eliminate the mold and bacteria on fins and provide greater savings on fan operation. UVC rays keeps coils clean, which also means lesser coil maintenance.

Therefore, use of UVGI Systems is the safest, most economical and effect way to eliminating microorganisms and improving IAQ.

Why Choose InviroShield UVGI Systems?

• Special ‘safety first’ features for off-coil installation, to prevent short circuit and shock hazard on condensation.
• Leak tight lamp head
• Fully sealed ballast
• Quartz Shield, Double Glass Construction provides multiple benefits 
• Prevents output reduction due to Wind Chill Effect as it keeps lamp core warm even in 10-15oC air flow.

Designed specifically for Air Conditioning applications, InviroShield provides 2.5 times higher output than ordinary UV Lamps

• Provides an additional layer to UVGI lamps and acts as a protection against accidental breakage as it is stronger (nearly 3 times thicker) than the UV lamp material.
• Stainless Steel Angular Reflector ensures that all UV energy from the lamp is directed properly and evenly on coil and drain pan surfaces.
• UV Stable wiring and materials used. Common PVC wires will not last in UV exposure
• Ease of Installation and maintenance: InviroShield comes with full installation kit for AHU and no other framework is required.
• Shatter Proof Lining of lamps with UV transparent material (optional).
• Provision for BAS communication, which gives 0-5 mV signal for fault reporting.
• Door Switch option for AHU panels to ensure safety of maintenance personnel.

InviroTech Systems: Your Partner for Green Building Products

Governments all over the world are becoming increasingly proactive on environmental efforts.  By now most countries have established their Green Rating Systems for buildings, as a means to encourage building developers to design and develop environmentally friendly buildings that have reduced adverse ecological impact. Any building owner fulfilling the certification criteria gets industrial recognition as well as tax benefits.

The Green Rating System devised in Malaysia is known as Green Building Index (GBI).  The rating system gives opportunity for developers and building owners to design and construct green buildings that can provide energy and water savings, a healthier indoor environment, better connectivity to public transport and the adoption of recycling and greenery for their projects.

Buildings are rated based on 6 Criteria:

a) Energy Efficiency

b) Indoor Environmental Quality

c) Sustainable Site Planning and Management

d) Materials and Resources

e) Water Efficiency

f) Innovation

Buildings are awarded GBI Malaysia Platinum, Gold, Silver or Certified Ratings Depending on the Scores Achieved.

All InviroTech Systems products namely Heat Pipes, InviroShield UVGI Systems, Heat Recovery Wheels, Electronic Air Cleaners and Electronic Filter Banks help you earn Green Points with absolute ease.

InviroTech Product	Relevant GBI Category
Heat Pipes	EQ,EE & IN
UVGI Lamps	EQ & EE
Heat Recovery Wheels	EQ & EE
Electronic Air Cleaners	EQ & IN
Electronic Filter Bank	EQ & SM
Dehumidifiers	EQ

Trusted by Industry for Excellence and Innovation, InviroTech continues to march ahead in Green Building movement and doing its bit.

Why Humidity Control is Essential?

Indoor Humidity has been recognized as one of the top 3 factors that affect quality of Indoor Air. High Humidity is conducive to the growth of micro-organisms like mold, fungus and bacteria, making the indoor air unhealthy and a potential source of sickness. According to EPA, “Indoor air can be 10 times more polluted than outdoor air.”

The “Sick Building Syndrome” is the common name given to a host of health problems and diseases that occur among people due to poor IAQ. Common symptoms being eye & nose irritation, fatigue, cough, nausea, headache, sore throat, asthma, fever or a combination of these.

Besides causing health risks for the occupants, growth of mold and fungus also causes damage to property such as the walls, surfaces and furnishings. Mold infested buildings have often been treated as inhabitable and in extreme cases are required to be evacuated for remediation. Examples include expensive hotel premises, hospitals and schools which are worth hundreds of million dollars and have had to be abandoned as they were declared unfit for human occupation. Remediation is neither easy nor cheap and can cost millions of dollars.

Humidity Control is vital in wide variety of applications to prevent spoilage of products and problems in many industrial processes.

Electronics, Food Industry, Clean Rooms, Pharmaceuticals, Lens Manufacturing, etc. are just a few examples in industries where humidity control has critical importance. Higher than specified RH levels can lead to complete halt of production lines, rejection rate going up and increased customer complaints.

Similarly there are many storage applications of moisture sensitive products that need strict humidity control. Examples include Computer and Data storage, Libraries, Museums, Food Stores, electronic parts storage, etc.

A large number of Industrial processes can have serious trouble due to lack of humidity control and it can be prevented if proper measures are taken in the early stages of the project. Therefore, controlling high humidity has become the need of the hour. InviroTech Heat Pipes are an ideal solution for Humidity Control.

To know more please call us at +603454510 or write to us at info@invirotech.com.

Heat Pipes and its Operating Principle

Heat Pipes is a device for transferring heat efficiently between two locations by using the evaporation and condensation of fluid contained therein. It is a sealed tube that has been partially filled with a working fluid which is a mixture of liquid and vapour in saturated state.

Originally invented by NASA scientists for space applications, Heat Pipe seems like a simple device that has heat transfer capacities some 1000 times higher than copper and can transfer heat from one point to another without having to use an external power supply.

The simple Heat Pipe is called thermosyphon which relies on gravity for return of liquid and is therefore unidirectional. More advanced Heat Pipes are provided with capillary action of “wick” to provide bi-directional operation and can work without aid of gravity.

Operating Principle: 

The Heat Pipe is a hollow element partially filled with a working fluid and has two sections, an evaporator and a condenser. 

The Evaporator, which is the hot end of the heat pipe, is exposed to the source of heat. It absorbs heat and uses it to convert working fluid to vapour, which expands to fill the entire internal space of the heat pipe. 

The condenser, which is at the other side of the tube, is in contact with heat sink that has temperature lower than the heat source i.e. the evaporator. The condenser rejects heat which leads to the vapour losing the heat and condensing back to liquid. This condensed liquid again returns to evaporator and the cycle repeats itself.

Over the years, Heat Pipe technology has evolved and today there are countless shapes of Heat Pipes which transfer heat through distances as small as 100-150 mm from computers chips in a PC to significant distances ranges in several meters between the evaporator and condenser.

Today Heat Pipes are considered the most economical and efficient method for Humidity Control which also results in better IAQ and Energy Savings. 

12 Good Reasons for using InviroTech Heat Pipes

InviroTech System is the pioneer in introducing Heat Pipe Technology in Malaysia. InviroTech Heat Pipes offer the following advantages.

• Keeps indoor space healthy with humidity control at 50 – 55% RH
• Savings, Savings and Savings - Payback period usually in less than one year.
• Operating Cost Savings – zero operating cost.
• Capital cost savings 
• Installation Space Savings.
• No electrical connection needed - requires no external energy to operate
• Low pressure drop
• Customized construction to suit any ‘Air Handling Unit’
• No plant room space required, installation inside AHU
• ‘Zero’ maintenance. Only simple cleaning required
• Completely silent operation - No moving parts
• Long Service Life – no wear and tear, nothing to replace.
• Easy to regulate reheat with thermostat control.
• Qualifies for government tax benefits for 'Green Technologies'
• Easily gets points in Green Rating Systems like Leed, BCI, GBI etc.

For inviting our Sales Executives, please call us on +603 78454510 or fax at +60378458979.