Ed. note: While it's still too soon to cast anything in stone as a "new normal" — indeed, we hope contractors can bring order to things without too much hoop-jumping — HVAC manufacturers are developing new programs to further assist in the design of "healthy buildings." Here is a new offering:
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Florida, June 2, 2020 — Today, Carrier introduced its "Healthy Buildings Program," an expanded suite of advanced solutions to help deliver healthy, safe, efficient and productive indoor environments across key verticals, including commercial buildings, healthcare, hospitality, education, retail and marine. In support of this, Carrier today also launched Corporate.Carrier.com/HealthyBuildings to help customers consult with Carrier’s experts to take advantage of the broad range of industry-leading healthy building technologies. Carrier Global Corporation (NYSE:CARR) is a leading global provider of innovative heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC), refrigeration, fire, security and building automation technologies.
“COVID-19 has reinforced the important role that buildings play in ensuring and protecting public health,” said Dave Gitlin, President & CEO, Carrier. “As people return to work, hotels greet guests, schools welcome back students and stores reopen, indoor air quality and safe buildings are of paramount importance. For the economy to successfully recover, people need to have trust in the safety of the buildings they are entering. New technologies like microscopic filtration systems and touchless building controls have gone from nice-to-have conveniences to must-have protections. The Carrier Healthy Buildings Program can help enable healthier and safer indoor environments as we get back to our new normal.”
As a founding member of both the U.S. Green Building Council and the International WELL Building Institute, Carrier has long been an industry leader in enhancing building health to promote personal health. Now, it’s essential that the world have the solutions and services that enable healthy environments.
“The company that invented modern air conditioning is uniquely positioned to deliver healthy building expertise,” said Rajan Goel, who leads Carrier’s Healthy Buildings Program as the head of Carrier’s Building Solutions Group. “Through the Healthy Buildings Program, Carrier’s experts will work closely with customers to not only design but operate, maintain and upgrade buildings that protect what’s most important – the health of those inside.”
Carrier’s Healthy Buildings Program will draw from a comprehensive suite of solutions and services designed to help improve indoor air quality (IAQ), increase outside air ventilation and enable touchless interactions. These include, but are not limited to, the following:
Carrier Healthy Building Services
Carrier offers expert services such as consultation, implementation and continuous monitoring. These services can enable customers to restart, operate, maintain and upgrade their buildings safely and efficiently. These include:
Safe Start Service helps ensure that buildings are ready for occupancy through a rigorous recommissioning of HVAC equipment and the implementation of best practices, which may be executed remotely.
IAQ Assessment to test air quality and develop and implement upgrades to help ensure optimal filtration, ventilation, airflow, controls, etc. Carrier experts can also develop and implement corporate-wide IAQ engineering standards.
Remote Airside Management provides continuous validation of IAQ parameters, periodic checks of equipment health and continuous airside commissioning, enabled by a 24x7 Command Center.
Wellness Services include helping customers to achieve the International WELL Building Institute’s WELL building standard certification, which implements strategies that can help improve a building’s features – air, water, thermal, lighting, acoustics, etc. Carrier also conducts WELL performance testing to help ensure continued high-performance operations and to upgrade certification levels in support of companies’ increased concerns regarding public health.
Remote Energy Management connects HVAC and other building systems to provide advanced cloud-based analytics that help optimize energy efficiency, equipment uptime, occupant comfort and operational productivity.
Emergency Assets support building needs with a wide variety of HVAC equipment on demand to meet building system upgrade requirements to reopen quickly and safely in the current environment.
Advanced Access Services helps to improve control site density by setting limits on the number of people allowed in a specific space and can prevent access once that number is met. Customers can also set up alerts for attempts to access blocked areas or generate reports for contact tracing. Carrier also provides remote monitoring and other custom solutions to meet the new challenges of today.
Security Services provide solutions and upgrades to help ensure increased resilience and a healthier and safer working environment. These solutions include contactless management, temperature screening and video analytics supported by connected services, remote monitoring and remote diagnostics.
Carrier Healthy Building Technologies
In addition to Carrier’s comprehensive HVAC, fire, security and controls product offering, Carrier’s Healthy Buildings offering includes:
Filtration technologies, available in new equipment and for retrofits, include various MERV filters, HEPA filters for particulate matter and the InfinityTM electrostatic filters for airborne pathogens. Carrier also offers devices using UVC light, which are intended to target viruses, and UV photocatalytic oxidation to help remove volatile organic compounds and improve IAQ.
OptiCleanTM Negative Air Machine cleans contaminated air and creates pressure to prevent air from spreading to different sections of a building. If negative pressure is not required, the machine can be used as an air “scrubber” to pull air in, remove contaminants and discharge cleaner air back into a room.
ActivAirTM hybrid hydronic air terminal delivers increased ventilation and outside air – key infection control strategies – in an energy-efficient way with low noise.
Environmental Index in our building automation platform enables building operators to manage temperature, humidity and CO2 levels in a way that identifies and addresses healthy building performance issues.
DirectKeyTM mobile access solution has empowered millions of hotel guests to safely access their hotel rooms without contact by bypassing the front desk check-in and eliminating many traditional touch points in the process.
BlueDiamondTM touchless access enables building occupants to eliminate a significant number of access touch points through implementation of industry leading mobile credentialing technology, making their environment safer.
MyWayTM building services platform integrates HVAC and other system controls, touchless access, indoor location and other services for a safe and personalized occupant experience.
Carrier can help upgrade and operate facilities with the appropriate package of solutions based on our customers’ industry applications and requirements. Learn more about Carrier’s Healthy Buildings Program at Corporate.Carrier.com/HealthyBuildings.