HOW SAFE IS THE AIR YOU BREATHE?

During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, around February, what captured the world's attention was the incident of a cruise ship that was stranded at sea. Several countries had refused to allow the ship to dock at their port.

Yes, we are referring to the Diamond Princess. It was known as the largest COVID-19 outbreak case beyond China during the initial stages of the pandemic. The rate of infection was 19.2% whereby more than 700 passengers were infected out of a total number of 3,711 passengers and crew members on board the ship.

Why though?

If you have been on a cruise ship before, you will notice that some of the cabins are very small. Worse still, some do not even have a window. All cabins depend on a centralized air conditioning system on the cruise ship.

The poorly designed ventilation system installed onboard operates in a recirculating mode. This makes it easy for airborne particles expelled from coughing and sneezing to travel through it. The particles then circulate within the cruise ship. Do you see how this makes it possible for the Covid-19 virus to spread in such a closed environment?

I do not travel on a cruise ship. This does not affect me, right?

Well actually, yes.

Most ventilation systems in our workplace, restaurants, shopping malls, etc are ineffective. Some of you might have experienced this in your workplace: you have no option of opening a window, so it’s either ice cold or warm like an oven.

While designing a ventilation system, the majority of local designers, consultants and contractors do not take the minimum outdoor air requirements into consideration. The system lacks the intake of fresh air from outside and operates in a self-circulation mode. Hence, all odour, smoke and particles are not properly removed but are recirculated back in the building.

How about virus, bacteria, mould and others indoor pollutants?

Buildings with inefficient and non-existential ventilation systems will therefore pose a higher risk in propagating infections.

Indoor air vs outdoor air

Everyone is aware that environmental air pollution is a real issue, but little attention has been given towards the reality of indoor air pollution. In fact, indoor air can be at least 2-5 times more polluted than outdoor air. Yes, it is true. google it and see for yourself.

Then think about how many hours we actually spend indoors:

● 8 hours - sleep and rest (assuming you have a healthy sleep schedule)

● 8 hours – working in the office or from home

● 2 hours - having meals in a restaurant / mall / home

● 2 hours - commuting by car or train or other transportation

Now think about how many hours we actually spend outdoors.

Not much right? Or at least not as much as you thought it would be.

We spend most of our time indoors yet we pay little attention to our indoor air quality. If we continue to let this problem persist, it could affect our health and productivity in the long run.

After MCO/lockdown, are you valuing your health more?

In this post MCO/lockdown phase, we need to adapt to a new normal. Take the time to reflect on our current practices and surroundings: Is our home or workplace ventilation designed with health and wellbeing in mind?

Are we confident about the ventilation provided by malls, restaurants, office buildings and entertainment outlets that we frequently visit? Health should always be our priority, and prevention is better than cure.

YOU deserve good indoor air quality!!

Everyone deserves a better indoor environment! This is where we generally spend most of our time. Zebulun Consulting Services (ZCS) is an industry leader specializing in fostering great indoor environments and ventilation design for commercial and retail environments.

ZCS aims to create better indoor environments by applying proper knowledge and technology via ventilation. We have also been engaged as the official consultant for several prominent F&B chains/groups in Malaysia, Indonesia, and China.

We provide technical assistance, design engineering, consulting services, optimization plan and engineering review.

Our areas of specialization include offices, food processing plants (food factory), central kitchen, food courts, bars & restaurants, shopping malls, hospital, private clubs, casinos, smoking rooms, airport, marine galley/cruise, cinemas outlets, Hotels and Resorts.

Our track record of satisfied clientele includes: Dewakan Malaysia (Top 50 Restaurant of ASIA), Fei Fan Hotpots Chain Malaysia, Soekarno Hatta Airport Terminal 3 Indonesia, Ismaya Resto & Ismaya Lifestyles Group Indonesia, Padma Hotel Group Indonesia and many more.

Contact today for a quick indoor ventilation assessment! For business owners, developers, building planners, facility managers, you can approach ZCS for a proper planning and design for your new project, or an optimization plan for your existing building.

To follow us do subscribe to us at the bottom of this page.