According to the University of Copenhagen’s Prof. Matthew Johnson, approximately one-sixth of the energy consumed in the world is used for heating, cooling and dehumidifying air in buildings. Because that air accumulates toxins and pathogens, he explains, it must constantly be expelled and replaced with new air that’s drawn in from outside. That new air must then be heated, cooled and/or dehumidified all over again. If only the air already in buildings could be cleaned up and reused, far less energy would be used on continuously conditioning fresh air. That’s why Johnson has invented the Cleanair system.
“Every second we pump air into our houses that is too hot, too cold or too moist. And then we spend billions of kilowatts treating that air,” he said. “If we could clean the air, we could recycle air that already has the perfect temperature.”
Apparently, that’s what his system does. It involves a patented system called Photochemical Air Purification, which incorporates ultraviolet light and photochemical reactions similar to those that occur in the Earth’s atmosphere. This combination is said to remove particles, viruses, ozone, bacteria, organic solvents and hydrocarbons from indoor air, allowing buildings to reduce their energy use by up to 25 percent.
Within minutes of being turned on, Cleanair reportedly removed 40 different compounds from the air in an office building on the U Copenhagen campus. What percentage of those compounds remained in the air was not stated.
Needless to say, cleaner air not only saves money, but should also pose less of a health risk to the people who breathe it. To that end, Johnson is now looking into how effective his system would be at removing volatile organic compounds from industrial smokestack emissions.
Cleanair was unveiled to the public at last week’s World Climate Solutions conference in Copenhagen.
All images courtesy University of Copenhagen
Once again, Europeans are \"discovering\" something American\'s have taken for granted for almost a century.
Alternatively, if you want to combine lower HVAC bills and cleaner air, why not install a green roof? Green roofs filter fine particulate air pollution, and reduce HVAC costs by 20-30%, as well as reducing storm water runoff. Currently mandated in some places (http://cleanerairforcities.blogspot.com/2009/06/where-green-roofs-are-law.html), they are a cheaper alternative to the more expensive point pollution controls.
\"One way of quantitatively ensuring the health of indoor air is by the frequency of effective turnover of interior air by replacement with outside air.\"
And,
\"Generally, outdoor country air is better than indoor city air.\"
The entire article is worth reading.
Professor Johnson will have a challenge dealing with ASRAE, local code officials, et al, for commercial installations, but I wish him well. His best success may come from residential and industrial applications.
How it may be replanished?
Best regards,
Arun
How well does an average air filter work in your home for taking out the kind of contaminants mentioned above.
It would seem to me the Europeans are quite a bit ahead of us in this technology.
Your home furnace brings in outside air for heating combustion, you are a slave to the outside environment in the winter. That air would would serve you better if it were tempered, or brought closer to inside air temperature prior to combustion, your heating bill would go down too.
Add all these things together and you cam imagine how much more comfortable your home and work environment would be.
It doesn\'t take much of a CO2 increase or O2 decrease to kill people and nothing in either the picture or the write up seems to address those issues.