Posted on Thursday Sep 09, 2021 at 02:02PM
Fall is here and many public or commercial buildings that had been shuttered during 2020 and early 2021 — especially schools — are undergoing a unique reopening. Indoor air quality (IAQ) continues to dominate the national conversation as the industry strives to set a new bar for indoor health and safety.
State and local governments are having their say as well. While the EPA and OSHA do not regulate IAQ standards, updated local ordinances and guidelines are emerging. The New York State Department of Health, for example, issued a guidance during the COVID-19 pandemic that required food service locations to install a minimum or MERV-13 or industry equivalent filtration in HVAC systems.
All of this means increased focus on the air in your building, including:
One of the key requirements that we’re beginning to see is a visual indication of CO2 levels in a room (from a CO2 sensor). Once a certain threshold is reached, occupants in the room should be able to easily spot a visual alert that action should be taken to improve ventilation (whether that means opening windows or turning up the ventilation system).
A high concentration of CO2 in a space, generally due to occupancy with inadequate ventilation, can have noticeable side-effects. Elevated levels may impact productivity or comfort. Heavily unbalanced levels can cause headaches or expose occupants to unnecessary health risks. All of this can be prevented with proper advance warning.
The large, bright touchscreen interface on Veris’ enhanced CW2 series of IAQ sensors is outfitted to provide precisely the visual alert you need. The touchscreen includes a proprietary color-coded “stoplight” feature that can be enabled and configured for clear and obvious visual indications of CO2 levels, even at a distance where text or numerals may not be legible.
You’ll have the option to set one or two CO2 threshold levels in minimum increments of 10 ppm. These levels are easily field adjustable (they do not require you to access your BMS), and the stoplight feature can be toggled on and off with a simple icon. When stoplight is enabled and a CO2 threshold level is reached, the background color of the backlit main LED screen will change for obvious visual detection. The three available default options are:
If your facility prefers to set custom thresholds, simply change the red and yellow limits in 10 ppm increments (or faster with a long press) to configure the sensors to the needs of your space.
Our stoplight-enhanced CW2 series touchscreen IAQ sensors launched on July 1, 2021, and are now available for purchase. A total of twenty CW2 models include the adjustable stoplight feature:
Check out our data sheets for analog units and protocol units to learn more about their capabilities and match specifications with your needs. You can also contact the Veris team for more information on ordering or operating these versatile IAQ sensors and start monitoring CO2 in your building today.