Background
When an Alberta-based school division Operations and Maintenance Department initially contacted BGE, it was merely to discuss the replacement of a few air filters for one of their schools. Upon a short discovery conversation, BGE was asked to conduct an air quality audit for 12 schools throughout Alberta.
The Solution: BGE’s Aircheck
BGE’s Aircheck service is a comprehensive assessment of a building’s indoor air quality and HVAC systems. Understanding your starting point and determining where opportunities may lie for improving your IAQ is the first step in BGE’s IAQ360 program (Assess, Plan, Deliver, Manage). The Aircheck is completed in your facilities by our Clean Air Advisors who use BGE’s Aircheck smartphone App to conduct and document a thorough examination of:
- Outdoor air entering a space
- A building’s occupied spaces
- Current air handling units
- Existing filtration systems
Indoor air systems are complex and there are many places in which small inefficiencies can add up to cause large problems. That’s why a periodic Aircheck is highly recommended.
The Results
From severely damaged and ill-fitting filters to incorrect installation practices to having a variety of ineffective filter types to an overall lack of cleanliness, the Aircheck revealed some significant deficiencies across several schools.
The Aircheck resulted in a few key recommendations:
- Probiotic cleaning of all HVAC equipment coils
- Adopting a consistent filter type (MegaPleat filters) resulting in fewer filter changes and less waste.
- Commit to a consistent replacement schedule
The recommendations included a number of one-time, semi-annual, and annual service visits to ensure the initial improvements were properly maintained.
Summary
The school division agreed to BGE’s recommendations, and are now in a great position to improve their schools’ overall indoor air quality while lowering their annual expenditures on filters, improving energy efficiency in their buildings, and reducing waste.
It’s time to schedule an Aircheck service. It’s time to improve your indoor air quality. For more information on BGE’s proprietary Aircheck service visit bgecleanair.com/aircheck
