Schools and offices get better indoor air when air cleaners comply to the new VDI expert recommendation

Swedish QleanAir is one of the first air cleaning providers to upgrade their solutions to be compliant with the new VDI expert recommendation. Schools and offices using these air cleaners can now be confident that they will get healthy indoor air with high safety and a low sound levels, right according to the guidelines.

The Covid-19 pandemic has led to a great demand for air cleaners in German schools, where air quality is often poor due to the lack of ventilation systems where one has to open windows to ventilate. The new expert recommendation by The Association of German Engineers (VDI), provides guidance for a healthy indoor air in public spaces.

Swedish QleanAir is now one of the first air cleaning providers to comply with the new expert recommendation, which is expected to be adopted into DIN and European standards. With an air cleaner in compliance with the new recommendations, schools, offices and other public spaces will have high-quality indoor air cleaning according to recommendation.

-"Schools and offices are challenging environments to address, with many aspects to take into account. Besides the aerosol reduction capability, a low sound level and minimization of discomfort are critical factors to think about when designing an air cleaner for these environments. We are happy to launch our upgraded air cleaners compliant with the new VDI expert recommendation", says Johan Billing, Product Manager at QleanAir.

The VDI expert recommendation is covering government requirements about air cleaning capability, airflow, sound level, room comfort, and safety. For example, according to the recommendation, the air cleaner must reduce particle levels in the room by 90 percent within 30 minutes . With many air cleaners available on the market, the new recommendation will help guide organizations to an air cleaner that is both highly efficient and meets the quality norm.

With the new upgrading kits from QleanAir, the air cleaners FS 30 HEPA, FS 70 HEPA and FS 70 Standard can be equipped with accessories making them compliant with the new expert recommendation. The air cleaners have proven to be highly efficient against viruses and bacteria, but are also good at tackling other common pollutants in school and office environments like pollen, combustion particles and dust.

QleanAir is already operating in Germany with air cleaners installed at more than 75 German schools. Healthy indoor air should be a long-term priority for every organization, according to the QleanAir CEO:

-"We are welcoming the new expert recommendation that we hope will raise the national standards of air cleaning. It is good to see the public sector in the forefront when it comes to protecting people's health and we are looking forward to providing more people in schools and offices with clean and healthy air", says Christina Lindstedt.

What is the VDI expert recommendation?

• The VDI expert recommendation (VDI-EE 4300-14) contains a multitude of criteria for air cleaners of which six are key: capability for aerosol reduction, airflow, sound level, room comfort, generation of biproducts and safety
• The air cleaner must be able to reduce aerosol levels in the room by 90% within 30 minutes
• The unit must fulfill the aerosol reduction requirement at a low sound level, not to disturb concentration or comfort. 35 dB(A) for classrooms in schools, 45 dB(A) in large open office spaces.
• The air cleaner must, together with the ventilation system, produce a minimum of four air exchanges per hour in the room
• The air delivery from the unit must not create discomforting turbulence in the room
• The unit must not produce high levels of biproducts in the room. An example of such a biproduct is ozone, which is commonly generated when applying UV-C, ionization or plasma.
• The unit must resist vandalism and unauthorized changes of settings.