Indoor air quality matters a lot when it comes to workplaces. From employees who have pre-existing conditions, such as mold sensitivity, mold allergies, or asthma to those dealing with acquired conditions, such as a suppressed immune system or olfactory sensitivity as a result of medications or even pregnancy, the air quality of your building can impact a lot of people.
Poor indoor air quality caused by odors, allergens, and dust can reduce productivity and even have a detrimental impact on your employees’ long-term health.
Indoor Air Quality Is a Serious Consideration
While some employers may ignore complaints of poor indoor air quality, doing so places them at risk for more than frustrated workers. Indoor air quality is important, and poor indoor air quality has been tied to a number of serious medical conditions. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, part of the Department of Labor, considers indoor air quality to be an important factor in maintaining a healthy and safe work environment.
If your company has received complaints from employees or has reason to believe that indoor air quality is subpar or has been compromised, taking a proactive approach not only benefits employees but also the business itself.
Air Filtration Is an Easy Way to Improve Air Quality
While there are many things a company can do to improve air quality, such as manipulating how air flows through the space or renting out potted plants to digest carbon dioxide in the indoor air and provide fresh oxygen while also sequestering many volatile organic compounds, like formaldehyde, which can impact health and air quality, these options can be expensive or unpredictable. An air filter, particularly a high-quality air filter intended for commercial users, is a great way to clean indoor air without any need for daily or weekly maintenance, like airflow systems and plants may require.
Quality Matters in Air Filtration
Just buying the cheapest air filters you can find online won’t do much to solve an ongoing issue with indoor air quality. Whether the issue is dust and other fine particulate matter circulating through your HVAC system or the accumulation of volatile organic compounds that reduce air quality and can cause irritation symptoms in workers, a quality air filter will do much more, and be more cost effective, overall, than cheap filters that do not address the root issue or produce noticeably cleaner air for your office.
Investing in the right air filters can improve the overall air quality in your office quickly and can help prevent future air quality issues.
Why Pleated Air Filters Are Often the Best Option
Pleated air filters are made of polyester fibers woven to be similar to fabric which is housed within a rigid exterior and pleated to create the largest possible amount of surface area for the space it takes up overall. That extra surface area captures more particulate matter and provides better airflow than similarly shaped fiberglass or washable filters. While they do require regular replacement, when they are thrown out, all that captured particulate matter goes with them, unlike in washable filters, where the trapped dust and debris may re-enter the indoor air supply when they are cleaned.
Pleated Air Filters Work in Standard HVAC Ducts
Some of the snazziest, fanciest filters on the market require their own specialized housing or ductwork. This means that your company will be expected to invest in adjusting the HVAC ducts and system in your building in order to make the most of these filtration systems. The work to make those changes, in turn, can create substantially more dust and stir up rest particulate matter, causing a drop in air quality.
Pleated filters, however, fit with almost all standard HVAC system ducts, meaning they are simple to install and replace and require no changes to your existing building infrastructure to begin improving the air quality.
Pleated Filters Don’t Disrupt Duct Airflow
Some of the more expensive modern air filtration options, like fiberglass filters, can create a drop in efficiency and airflow when your HVAC system is running. Because of how dense they are and how they are designed, they create a pressure drop in the HVAC system when they are installed, resulting in less hot and cool air circulating. This reduction in efficiency can be very expensive for a commercial building.
Thankfully, pleated air filters do not cause a major pressure drop when they are installed, which means that they have a minimal impact on the efficiency of the HVAC system’s delivery of hot and cold air.
Pleated Filters Are More Durable
Because of their design, pleated air filters have a long performance life and stand up to wear and tear better than other kinds of filters. Typically pleated air filters can last as long as three to four months in an HVAC system. All the added surface area from those pleats results in the ability to trap much more particulate matter before they need to replaced. This can also help improve the lifespan of your HVAC system and reduce the number of cleanings your ducts require as well.
Comments are closed.