The health, safety, and wellbeing of our students and staff remains our first priority, and as such, ensuring proper ventilation in our schools and sites is extremely important to us. Edmonton Catholic Schools is pleased to report that we have now installed the ASHRAE recommended MERV 13 filters in more than 50% of our schools and sites and anticipate completing the remaining installations within the next few weeks.
MERV 13 Filters
The HVAC industry is regulated by the American Society of Heating and Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). They have recently given the following guidance for schools regarding ventilation and the spread of the COVID-19 virus:
- Upgrade air system filters with higher minimum efficiency to a Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) 13,
- If MERV 13 filtration cannot be installed due to HVAC system constraints, recommendation to install in-room air cleaners with high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration units within the space.
Edmonton Catholic Schools continues to follow the guidelines of ASHRAE. They only recommend HEPA filtration units if MERV 13 filters cannot be installed due to HVAC system constraints. We are pleased to share that we are able to install MERV 13 filters in all ECSD HVAC systems in our schools and sites.
We were able to work with an HVAC company in Edmonton that specializes in manufacturing MERV 13 filters that would work with all our existing HVAC systems. This collaboration has allowed us to respond to the recommendations quickly and efficiently.
We respect that there are many differing individual opinions on HVAC standards, and we will continue to follow the accepted industry guidance of ASHRAE when making HVAC system decisions.
