UVGI is one of several control options. Filtration is usually cheaper and doesn’t have associated health and safety risks like UVGI. UV-C doesn’t provide much additional benefit beyond a MERV 13 filter. UVGI does work nicely and can be cheaper in settings with limited mechanical ventilation, and where additional disinfection is welcome such as in healthcare settings or dense spaces. It is a design challenge that needs to account for things like environmental conditions, ceiling reflectance, and the type of UV-C.
There are underexplored research questions around UVGI, and if this seems interesting to you I’m happy to connect you to some of the scientists and engineers working on this—just PM me. I suggest you read through the technical literature first to be able to talk with an informed perspective on a narrowly targeted research question.
My hunch is that the added disinfection benefit of UVC is not worth the added risk and cost compared to just a MERV-13 air purifier. In the U.S. it may be better to focus on helping schools access the funds in the American Rescue Plan already available for schools to purchase air purifiers. Many school districts just don’t have the skills, willingness, or knowledge to know what to buy and manage the program process.
This is very helpful, thank you! I’ve been mainly looking into design projects for the summer, and the impression I picked up at EAGxBoston was that just having low-cost UVC devices available was a key bottleneck. Working on a design sounded like it might fit the bill. Based on what you’ve said, it sounds like this is more of a logistics and social coordination problem than a money problem. I’ll keep this in mind for the future, though.
A study similar to what you are proposing was first done in the 1930s in Philadelphia as an intervention to prevent the spread of measles. See Nicholas Reed, “The History of Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation for Air Disinfection”.
There is a substantial knowledge base on the effectiveness of UGVI, associated risks, and design considerations. See Kowalski’s “Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation Handbook”, NIOSH guidelines for UVGI systems, and ASHRAE technical resources on UVGI. ASHRAE is the professional society most responsible for the science, design, and testing of UVGI systems, in coordination with other professional bodies. They have two chapters on UV systems in their design handbooks.
UVGI is one of several control options. Filtration is usually cheaper and doesn’t have associated health and safety risks like UVGI. UV-C doesn’t provide much additional benefit beyond a MERV 13 filter. UVGI does work nicely and can be cheaper in settings with limited mechanical ventilation, and where additional disinfection is welcome such as in healthcare settings or dense spaces. It is a design challenge that needs to account for things like environmental conditions, ceiling reflectance, and the type of UV-C.
There are underexplored research questions around UVGI, and if this seems interesting to you I’m happy to connect you to some of the scientists and engineers working on this—just PM me. I suggest you read through the technical literature first to be able to talk with an informed perspective on a narrowly targeted research question.
My hunch is that the added disinfection benefit of UVC is not worth the added risk and cost compared to just a MERV-13 air purifier. In the U.S. it may be better to focus on helping schools access the funds in the American Rescue Plan already available for schools to purchase air purifiers. Many school districts just don’t have the skills, willingness, or knowledge to know what to buy and manage the program process.
This is very helpful, thank you! I’ve been mainly looking into design projects for the summer, and the impression I picked up at EAGxBoston was that just having low-cost UVC devices available was a key bottleneck. Working on a design sounded like it might fit the bill. Based on what you’ve said, it sounds like this is more of a logistics and social coordination problem than a money problem. I’ll keep this in mind for the future, though.