Best Practices on HVAC Design to Minimize the Risk of COVID-19 Infection within Indoor Environments

Alexandre Fernandes  Santos; Pedro Dinis Gaspar; Aseel  Hamandosh; Eliandro Barbosa  de Aguiar; Antonio Carlos Guerra Filho; Heraldo José Lopes de Souza

doi:10.1590/1678-4324-2020200335

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Alexandre Fernandes Santos Department of Electromechanical Engineering, University of Beira Interior, Department of Electromechanical Engineering, University of Beira Interior, 6201-001; Covilhã, Portugal. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5306-6968
Pedro Dinis Gaspar C-MAST—Centre for Mechanical and Aerospace Science and Technologies, 6201-001 Covilhã, Portugal.
Aseel Hamandosh Universidade Católica do Paraná; Odontologia; Curitiba – Paraná. Brazil
Eliandro Barbosa de Aguiar Faculdade Estácio. Engenheiro eletricista. Curitiba Paraná. Brazil
Antonio Carlos Guerra Filho Universidade Federal de Uberlândia. Engenheiro Mecânico. Minas Gerais. Brasil
Heraldo José Lopes de Souza Faculdade Profissional. Pós Graduado em Engenharia da Climatização. Curitiba Paraná. Brazil

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-4324-2020200335

Keywords:

Covid 19, Pandemic, Contamination, Strategies, Guidelines, Best practices

Abstract

The spread of Coronavirus is causing in the society all around the world a considerable degree of fear, worry and concern and particularly among healthcare workers that are at increased risk for infection. This paper gathers the strategy/guidelines to reduce the contamination in Intensive care unit (ICU) and in all
the hospital environment. The ASHRAE and REHVA guidelines applied the UV-C Lamps, Pressure control filtration, Restroom actions and Humidity control to reduce the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in ICU. The role of infection control in the design of hospitals is increasing every day. This paper highlights the role of heating, ventilating and air-conditioning minimizing the risk of infection from airborne transmission within the built environment through the application of best practices.