The UK’s F-gas certification body Refcom insists that there is still no evidence that air conditioning or ventilation systems are contributing to the spread of the coronavirus.
In response to questions from members, head of Refcom Graeme Fox, said: “It is really important to reconfirm that, at this stage, there is still no evidence that air conditioning or ventilation systems are contributing to the spread of the virus.”
Speaking during today’s BESA webinar, Fox admitted that there were “still a lot of unknowns” but recommended putting air handling units on full fresh air, rather than recirculation as much as possible.
“Forget about heat recovery and air handling units with crossover of air,” he said. “Health is more important than energy efficiency right now.
“Higher ventilation rates do minimise the risk of moisture settling on internal surfaces. So, if the virus is in the air coming through, then you want to minimise any risk of that settling on the surface.
“So even if a building is relatively low occupied at the moment, keep up the air flows to as high rate as possible to minimise any risk.”
