Regular air exchange in the waiting room
Keeping your distance, hand disinfection, face mask and ventilation are the order of the day. Especially in waiting rooms, where the most varied of people meet – with or without symptoms of illness, infectious diseases are transmitted very quickly via the insufficiently changed indoor air.
Contrary to common practice, tilted windows are not sufficient for an almost virus-free air in the waiting room. Regular, frequent intermittent ventilation should be the order of the day, but has the major disadvantage, especially in the cold season, that the waiting room cools down, customers or patients freeze and have to be re-heated at great expense. Controlled ventilation for waiting rooms within a doctor’s office can help.
Controlled ventilationin the doctor's office with iV-Office
- Regular air exchange in the waiting room
- Healthy feel-good climate
- Easy retrofitting
- Intuitive regulation of ventilation intensity
- Heat recovery through ceramic core
- Storage of heat guarantees air at a comfortable temperature
Planning examplefor ventilation in the doctor's office
Requirements:
- ASR A3.6 and A3.7.
- CO2 concentration below 1000 ppm
- Compliance with air exchange rate
- Volume flow: approx. 30 m³/h per person
The ventilation requirements for ventilation in medical practices can be viewed similarly to those in offices and the design parameters of the Workplace Directive apply. This sets requirements for free ventilation via windows and for ventilation via mechanical ventilation systems in sections ASR A3.6 and A3.7.
Air exchange in the waiting room through free ventilation
Good indoor air quality is achieved when the CO₂ concentration is kept as low as possible. CO₂ concentration is a recognized measure for assessing indoor air quality. According to workplace guidelines, it should not exceed 1,000 ppm. This CO₂ concentration can be achieved, for example, by opening the windows. Depending on the weather, intensive ventilation should then be carried out for 3-10 minutes every 60 minutes.
Air exchange in the waiting room through mechanical ventilation
The air in the waiting room can also be exchanged using a ventilation and air conditioning system with a volume flow of approx. 30 m³/h per person. In addition to removing CO₂, mechanical ventilation in the doctor’s office also helps to prevent infection. Existing aerosols and possible pathogens are transported outside via the fan, and the supply of fresh air reduces the concentration of aerosols in the room air. Another option is to combine mechanical ventilation with window ventilation. The use of efficient ventilation systems in waiting rooms and doctors’ offices can completely replace the air exchange or reduce the number of window openings to a minimum.
Ventilate treatment rooms properly
Treatment rooms 1 + 2 with 2 people each
- 30 m³/h per person
- Required outdoor air volume flow through the ventilation system = 60 m³/h
The iV-Office is designed for 25 m³/h per device in the treatment rooms, which means that with two devices in the room (one pair of devices), the external air volume flow is 50 m³/h.
This provides the people in the treatment rooms with 25 m³/h of fresh air through air exchange.
Ventilate waiting rooms properly
Waiting room with an average of 5 people
- 30 m³/h per person
- Required outdoor air volume flow through the ventilation system = 150 m³/h
In the waiting area, the devices are designed for 30 m³/h per device, which means that with two devices in the room (one pair of devices), the outdoor air volume flow is 60 m³/h.
This provides 12 m³/h of fresh air for each person in the waiting room.
Advantages on ventilation in the doctor's office
- Up to 88% heat recovery
- Minimize cold drafts by ventilating the windows
- Low virus concentration due to the high proportion of fresh air
- Ventilation support up to 90 m³/h
- Easy retrofitting in the outer wall
Conclusion on ventilation in the doctor's office
The iV-Office achieves continuous basic ventilation within the specified sound emission requirements (here: 35 dB (A) in the treatment room and 40 dB (A) in the waiting room). The air exchange can be temporarily increased by the user to up to 90 m³ / h, or reduced temporarily in order to reduce noise emissions. In any case, the missing outside air volume flow can be reached through the windows. By fulfilling the requirements to 50%, in this example the required number of boost ventilation can be halved, so that boost ventilation every two hours is sufficient.