Many Ontario students, teachers, and education workers have trepidatiously headed back into schools this week after these buildings were shuttered back in March to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Our provincial government has provided questionable leadership and funding to ensure a safe return to school.
On June 17, the Sick Kids report clearly outlined good ventilation as a necessary component of a safe plan to return to school. However, the Ford government dragged its heels for almost a full two-months before allocating any additional funding for improving ventilation and HVAC systems, and, even then, they only came up with $50-million – a mere $10,000 per Ontario school, leaving school boards focused on short-term fixes rather than any major projects that could improve air quality and ventilation in schools.
Education minister vague when he says "if a challenge arises, we will be decisive." Parents want him to be decisive NOW:
📏📏 Fund 2 metre distancing
💨💨 FULLY fund ventilation systems upgrades#onted #onpoli #topoli @fordnation @Sflecce https://t.co/cWzG6a0TCM— Fix Our Schools (@Fix_Our_Schools) September 5, 2020
This type of indecisive, slow, and underwhelming response by our provincial government has not inspired confidence. Fix Our Schools has heard from people across the province with concerns over air quality and ventilation in their local schools, At the same time, knowing that the funding their government provided to school boards came very late and was not nearly sufficient, the Ministry of Education issued this best practices document to school boards, with advice such as:
“Do not open windows and doors if doing so poses safety or health risk, e.g., risk of falling, triggering asthma symptoms, risk of bees/wasps, to students and staff.”
Rather than continuing to push responsibility and accountability for a safe return to school down to teachers and school boards with this type of unhelpful guidance, Fix Our Schools would have preferred to see adequate provincial funding for things like windows that open, screens for those windows, and, as you will see as you read our guest blogger’s post below, for solutions to ensure optimum humidity in our classrooms.
We are once again pleased to have Christa Brown, P.Eng. as our guest blogger for the remainder of this blog. Please see her complete bio at the end of this blog post.
Have you ever had a moment where you learn something new and think, “Why isn’t this common knowledge? How did I not know this before and why doesn’t everyone know this?!”
I had that moment a few years ago when I heard Dr. Stephanie H Taylor speak at an ASHRAE conference on the topic of relative humidity levels in our built environments. Stick with me and you may have this ah-ha moment too.
Relative humidity (RH) is a measure of the amount of water in air, compared to the total amount of water the air can hold at that temperature. We all instinctively know that we feel most comfortable when the humidity level is at a sweet spot – too low and our mouths feel dry and our skin begins to crack and feel itchy – too high and we have trouble breathing or regulating our temperature through sweating. What’s fascinating is that this sweet spot of humidity is also the safest range to prevent the spread of infectious viruses in our built environments!
Here’s an explanation that is rooted in science but described in a super-duper simplistic conversational way with non-scientific terms.
If I sneeze in a room where the RH is only 30%, the dry air has a lot of space for more water vapor and will suck up all that wet mucus from my sneeze really fast making the diameter of that sneeze droplet super small. That sneeze particle, and all the viruses it contains, can float around and travel long distances, and for a long time, before eventually settling on a surface. During all that floating, it can easily be inhaled by others in the room – even those more than 2-meters away.
On the contrary, if I sneeze in a room where the RH is 45%, there is a lot less space for more water in that air. So my sneeze droplet stays wet and the diameter is fairly sizable (for a sneeze droplet). This causes it to settle on the nearest surface pretty fast. We’re pretty good at cleaning surfaces, and washing our hands, so the odds of this sneeze particle causing any damage is way less than in the other example, where the RH was lower.
(source: https://www.esmagazine.com/articles/100453-accepting-airborne-transmission-of-sars-cov-2-our-greatest-fear-and-greatest-opportunity)
What Dr. Stephanie H Taylor, and now many others, have confirmed through their research is that an RH of 40-60% in buildings will reduce respiratory infections and save lives. However, a lot of our built environments – including our schools – do not have the means to control the relative humidity through their HVAC systems because the regulations on indoor air quality do not include a minimum indoor humidity level. In Canada, and other seasonal climates, this has been proven to contribute to seasonal flu patterns. As the weather cools, the humidity levels drop, we increasingly spend more time indoors where the humidity levels are even lower, and we get sick.
Therefore, the HVAC industry, Doctors, and scientists are all calling on the World Health Organization (WHO) “to review the scientific evidence on humidity and health, and recommend a minimum lower limit of indoor humidity in public buildings to reduce respiratory infections”. Check out their active petition at 40to60rh.com.
ASHRAE’s building readiness and reopening guide for schools and universities includes this 40-60% RH recommendation in the “Checklist No. 2: Startup checklist for HVAC systems prior to occupancy” and “Designer Guidelines – General School” sections.
If you’re looking to monitor and control the humidity level in your own home this winter, start by purchasing a hygrometer or a humidifier with a built-in hygrometer. This device, which looks like a thermometer, measures the amount of moisture in the air and can be purchased at most hardware and department stores. Remember, dirty water reservoirs and filters in humidifiers can quickly breed bacteria and mold. So, it’s important to follow the recommended tips for keeping your humidifier clean.
Author: Christa Brown, P.Eng.
Bio: Christa is a professional engineer with 15 years of experience in HVAC water treatment and maintenance best practices. Her experience has inspired advocacy for value-based procurement in the public sector. Christa currently works for Fiix Software, a certified B-Corp that believes better maintenance builds better economical, social, and environmental outcomes.