Yan Shujie, Wang Liangzhu Leon, Birnkrant Michael J, Zhai John, Miller Shelly L
Dept. of Building, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Concordia University, 1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. West, Montreal, Quebec, H3G1M8, Canada.
Carrier Corporation, 6304 Thompson Road, East Syracuse, NY, 13057, USA.
Build Environ. 2022 Jul 1;219:109184. doi: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2022.109184. Epub 2022 May 13.
The world has faced tremendous challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic since 2020, and effective clean air strategies that mitigate infectious risks indoors have become more essential. In this study, a novel approach based on the Wells-Riley model applied to a multizone building was proposed to simulate exposure to infectious doses in terms of "". This modeling approach quantifies the relative benefits of different risk mitigation strategies so that their effectiveness could be compared. A case study for the US Department of Energy large office prototype building was conducted to illustrate the approach. The infectious risk propagation from the infection source throughout the building was evaluated. Different mitigation strategies were implemented, including increasing outdoor air ventilation rates and adding air-cleaning devices such as Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) filters and portable air cleaners (PACs) with HEPA filters in-room/in-duct germicidal ultraviolet (GUV) lights, layering with wearing masks. Results showed that to keep the risk of the infection propagating low the best strategy without universal masking was the operation of in-room GUV or a large industrial-sized PAC; whereas with masking all strategies were acceptable. This study contributes to a better understanding of the airborne transmission risks in multizone, mechanically ventilated buildings and how to reduce infection risk from a public health perspective of different mitigation strategies.
自2020年新冠疫情大流行以来，世界面临了巨大挑战，而减轻室内感染风险的有效清洁空气策略变得更加至关重要。在本研究中，提出了一种基于韦尔斯-莱利模型应用于多区域建筑的新方法，以模拟“”方面的感染剂量暴露情况。这种建模方法量化了不同风险缓解策略的相对益处，以便能够比较它们的有效性。对美国能源部大型办公原型建筑进行了案例研究，以说明该方法。评估了感染源在整个建筑中的感染风险传播情况。实施了不同的缓解策略，包括提高室外空气通风率、添加空气净化设备，如最低效率报告值（MERV）过滤器和带有高效空气过滤器（HEPA）的便携式空气净化器（PAC）、室内/风道内的杀菌紫外线（GUV）灯，以及佩戴口罩分层防护。结果表明，在不普遍佩戴口罩的情况下，为使感染传播风险保持在较低水平，最佳策略是运行室内GUV或大型工业尺寸的PAC；而在佩戴口罩的情况下，所有策略都是可接受的。本研究有助于更好地理解多区域机械通风建筑中的空气传播风险，以及从公共卫生角度了解不同缓解策略如何降低感染风险。
