ASHRAE has taken a strong stance in support of continuous UVC. Regarding the reopening of schools, this industry standard organization has published descriptions of available technology, noting the effectiveness of continuous UVC in reducing airborne infection risk for appropriately designed continuous UVCsolutions17. These robust statements build upon the pre-COVID guidelines that support continuous UVC and indoor air quality, noting that “…UV-C for upper air, in-duct, and in-room systems was named by ASHRAE’s 2014 Position Document on Airborne infectious Diseases as among the two highest research priorities for developing engineering control to reduce infectious disease transmission (ASHRAE 2014b)”. Although reducing the risk of respiratory tract infections has become particularly important in the COVID era, air quality and infection risk in educational institutions demand a broad perspective, as environmental factors affect student performance. The school climate has been linked to achievement in English and mathematics18. Indoor air quality is one of the various climate variables linked to effective learning 1920 with peer-reviewed literature specifically noting poor indoor air quality as an undermining factor21. Indoor air quality should be prioritized in institutional planning 22, as the most common pathogenic microbes in schools are continuous UVC sensitive and many schools do not meet ASHRAE Standard 62-2201 for ventilation (with UVC effective in magnifying available ACH)23.
Respiratory Influenza and UVC
