Indoor Air Quality

Dan Shields is CEO of CODA

New regulations put an emphasis on indoor air quality

Dan Shields discusses how the updates to the Building Regulations will affect building owners, occupiers and facilities management teams

n 15th June 2022, several

Oupdates to England’s Building Regulations will come into effect. These changes aim to reduce the carbon emissions associated with commercial buildings by up to 30 per cent while creating safer spaces for occupants and more energy efficient as we move towards NetZero 2050.

The updates to Part L relate to the conservation of fuel and power and represent an essential step towards 2025’s Future Homes and Buildings Standard. Under the new guidelines, there will be several updates to the existing Building Standards, including changes to the minimum fabric efficiency standards, new guidance around heating and cooling systems and an increase in the minimum efficacy of lighting installations.

The amendments to Part F of the Building Regulations are concerned with ensuring adequate ventilation within both residential and commercial properties. These updates highlight the importance of internal air quality (IAQ) and include new minimum ventilation rates, updated guidance around recirculation of air and, in some instances, a requirement for CO2 monitoring. The improvements are designed to limit the risk of airborne infections transmitted between buildings users.

Shift in priorities

Introducing these new standards means a shift in the priorities for facilities managers and maintenance teams as the focus on energy efficiency and ventilation is renewed. To comply with the new guidelines, facilities managers must be able to monitor their buildings and sites in real-time, have access to the right level of controls and analytics and provide reports on the internal conditions. For example, to guarantee that a commercial building is appropriately ventilated, the facilities manager must be able to review the IAQ and occupancy levels, adjust the mechanical ventilation accordingly, and then provide evidence that the environment is safe and healthy.

Changes to Parts L and F of the Building Regs will put new demands on energy managers

The Building Regulation updates coincide with many other changes that impact how buildings are managed and maintained. These include the rise of flexible and hybrid working patterns, which have resulted in more significant variations in occupancy levels and working hours. This presents new challenges for facilities managers as they strive to find ways to maintain operational efficiency while building occupancy is low.

Rising energy prices also mean increased pressure on facilities managers and maintenance teams to keep building running costs to a minimum. With further energy price increases on the horizon, operational efficiency is at the top of the agenda for many property teams as they strive to find ways to mitigate the impact of inflated energy bills.

IoT technology’s crucial role

Internet of Things (IoT) technology has a central role to play in supporting facilities managers and maintenance teams in the fulfilment of these new Building Regulations. As well as continually monitoring the energy usage within a property, IoT technology and analytics can process this gathered data to advise businesses of solutions and changes that will aid their journey towards compliance and decarbonisation.

IoT platforms, such as CODA, can monitor the energy usage of the building and its individual assets to build a complete picture of the site’s consumption. This data can then be used to identify any assets that are not performing at their optimum and establish opportunities to reduce the overall energy usage, cost and associated carbon emissions. IoT can also identify activities that are likely to lead to an asset fault. The system can then alert the teams so that predictive maintenance may be undertaken to avoid more extensive repairs and costly downtime.

IoT technology can also help businesses comply with part F by monitoring the IAQ, delivering insights on the ventilation performance and controlling mechanical ventilation systems following the new guidelines. For example, by continually monitoring the CO2 levels, humidity, temperature and occupancy of an internal space, CODA can ensure that the appropriate level of ventilation is being supplied at all times. This keeps the IAQ at its optimum for the wellbeing of building occupants. Still, it ensures that ventilation systems are not overused, thus striking a balance between internal air quality and energy efficiency.

While these updated Building Regulations will significantly alter aspects of facilities management, some do feel that the new standards don’t go far enough to ensure buildings decarbonise at the rate required. However, IoT and predictive analytics have the potential to help property teams go beyond compliance in their building management strategies. Commercial properties that implement the latest IoT building controls will be going a considerable step further in reducing their sites’ energy consumption and advancing the journey to NetZero 2050.

As regulations change, demands on our office spaces become more fluid and pressures to reduce running costs and ensure occupant safety mount, the support of technology is essential.

There is more pressure on facilities management teams to manage the demands of the occupiers, keep operational costs down and comply with ever-changing building regs. IoT technologies and predictive analytics software platforms can provide essential support for facilities managers trying to navigate the complex landscape of the commercial property. 

Indoor Air Quality

David Cook is technical product manager at Vent-Axia

Considering air quality on the road to net zero

The new Approved Document Part F of the Building Regulations recognises the importance of considering indoor air quality on the road to net zero. David Cook explains more

ince Kyoto, the UK has

Sbeen striving to reduce its carbon emissions with the Government enshrining in law achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. Increasing energy efficiency of buildings to work towards this target has been key but unfortunately indoor air quality (IAQ) has taken a back seat resulting in indoor air pollution. The new revision of Part F has started to redress the balance of ventilation with energy efficiency as the pandemic has clearly shown the importance of good IAQ for health and wellbeing.

With energy costs rapidly rising, any reduction in usage helps reduce the effect of escalating costs and so reducing operating costs by creating efficient buildings is vital. But, as buildings become more airtight to improve efficiency it is essential to consider IAQ to protect the wellbeing of inhabitants.

The new Part F (Means of Ventilation), which goes hand-inhand with the new amended Part L (Conservation of Fuel and Power), therefore sets out “significant changes” which will drive adoption of low-carbon ventilation as an industry standard and improve the quality of the air we breathe in buildings. This includes the new Part F looking to both minimise the entry of external pollutants and ensure humidity and pollutants are extracted effectively and efficiently both in new build and in refurbishments. The document also includes guidance on minimum levels of air quality, to ensure good occupant health, and considers ways to monitor IAQ as part of this.

Areas for consideration

So, what are some of the significant areas to consider in the new revised Part F for energy managers and FMs working on non-residential buildings? With Part F focusing heavily on health and wellbeing, a key addition to Approved Document F, Volume 2 is a new section on monitoring IAQ. Since people exhale carbon dioxide (CO2) when they breathe out, if there is a build-up of CO2 in an area, IAQ falls and it can indicate that ventilation needs to be improved.

Part F therefore sets out a requirement for new commercial buildings to have the means of monitoring IAQ in occupiable rooms. This may be achieved using CO2 monitors or other means of measuring IAQ with guidance on how to use CO2 monitors set out in Appendix C of Part F.

CO2 should only be used as a guide to ventilation rather than to identify safe thresholds. CO2 measured in parts per million (PPM) with external levels around 400PPM. A wellventilated space would have average levels of around 800PPM, whereas average levels of 1,500PPM would indicate that the space is poorly ventilated and action should be taken to improve the situation.

Another key point within the revised Part F is that ventilation systems should be designed to minimise external pollutants entering the indoor space. Part F now clearly states that this should be taken into account if certain pollutants, including carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, lead and PM25, exceed limits as outlined in the Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010. This is also the case if a building is located too near to sources of significant external pollution such as busy road / junctions, combustion plants, discharges from process plants, and other sources of pollution that may be detrimental to health.

Source of the pollution

To combat the ingress of external pollutants in general, locate intakes away from the source of the pollution. Where urban traffic is the cause of the pollution air intakes should be as high as possible and located on the less polluted side of the building; if practical, avoid intakes from courtyard / enclosed areas; and if there is a significant prevailing wind direction, intakes should point in the opposite direction to the exhaust.

Approved Document F, Volume 2 advises that mechanical ventilation may be the most practical way of achieving this. For example, VentAxia’s Slimpak EC box fan ducted system continuously supplies fresh air or extracts stale air or both.

Another key addition to Part F, which reflects the significance of ventilation in meeting Net Zero, features in ‘Section 3: Work on Existing Buildings’. Here it states that when energy efficiency measures are installed, airtightness may be increased so ventilation should be assessed to determine what, if any, additional ventilation provision is needed to ensure good IAQ. It is important to remember (and confirmed in ADF 2) that infiltration is considered part of the ventilation system and reducing infiltration may reduce indoor air quality below the requirements.

Within Part F there is also a move to more advanced energy efficient ventilation with the document giving maximum SFP levels for various types of systems. By implication, this pushes specification towards ventilation systems with EC motors or inverter control.

While energy efficiency of buildings has been in the spotlight for some time, the latest revision of the Building Regulations marks a step change in recognising the importance of good IAQ too - and the role ventilation plays in achieving this. For both new build and refurbishment projects, energy efficient ventilation is a vital element to ensure occupant health and wellbeing as well as helping work towards Net Zero. 

Indoor Air Quality

Jonathan Williams is branch sales manager of Siemens Smart

Infrastructure

Smart buildings are good for our health

In our efforts to save energy modern buildings are almost hermetically sealed and the air can quickly become toxic. Jonathan Williams looks at why healthy air is so important and what can be done about it

oor air quality seriously impairs

Pour ability to think clearly, makes us feel unwell, and helps spread viruses. A myriad of building-related factors can inflame symptoms such as headaches, blocked or runny nose, skin irritations, dry and sore eyes, tiredness, and difficulty concentrating. Therefore, many building owners and managers are requiring more precise controls over the environmental factors in the workplace:

CO2 levels of 1,500 to 3,000 parts per million are common in meeting rooms, yet these levels impair our ability to use information and reduce initiative CO2 is safe in small quantities, but as levels rise within indoor spaces and become higher than external concentrations, it is harmful to human health. The poorer the indoor ventilation, the higher the concentration of CO2. Scientific research shows that CO2 levels often found in meeting rooms, offices and educational facilities can reduce higher cognitive skills by more than 50 per cent. The right room automation creates a productive room that can increase overall productivity by 2 to 18 per cent.

Humidity levels, either too high or too low, have a dramatic effect on the spread of viruses and impact of allergens. A lack of humidity control means a high cost in terms of reduced productivity and increased absenteeism, as well as lowered morale. Heating systems often dry the air. It has been shown that dry air enhances the lifetime of viruses.

Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) is a condition in which people in a building suffer from symptoms of illness.

Humid air can indirectly contribute to

SBS by promoting the growth of fungi and mould. Besides devaluing the real estate, exposure to mould spores represents a hazardous health risk, with symptoms range from allergic reactions to poisoning by mycotoxins.

The right temperature and humidity control greatly reduces the risk of falling ill while significantly improving comfort. Conventional thermostats only measure and control temperature; however, advanced hygrothermostats can be used for measurement, monitoring and

Next generation HVAC control systems will be able to measure factors such as fine dust

control thanks to built-in temperature and humidity sensors, and can be integrated with building management systems.

The perils of VOCs

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) can arise from cleaning chemicals, paints, carpets, and office equipment, or come in from outside through windows or unfiltered ventilation systems. Even in low concentrations, they can affect the respiratory, reproductive, and central nervous system.

One of the major causes of SBS is outgassing from building materials. Energy saving measures to both insulate and draught-proof buildings help lower the requirement for heating and cooling, however this results in airtightness within buildings, keeping the VOC gasses inside and contributing to SBS among occupants.

The number one measure to prevent SBS is proper ventilation, in cases where HVAC is not fully automated. Suppliers like Siemens offer solutions for monitoring and quantifying not only the SBS indicators of VOC and humidity, but also temperature and CO₂ levels, by using a single multi-sensor device.

Fine dust is worst in major cities and heavily industrialised areas. It is pumped out by engine exhausts, industrial processes, power stations, construction activities and natural sources. Small particles can get into the lungs and cause diseases from asthma to cancer.

Carbon-activated air purifiers

Air quality improvements can be made through the deployment of advanced HEPA and carbon-activated air purifiers that will screen harmful pollutants. Air-quality monitors are sensitive to the miniscule and most damaging particles, known as PM10 and PM2.5. These tiny particles are invisible to the naked eye and are small enough to travel deep into the lungs and bloodstream. Air duct fine dust sensors measure and monitor the indoor and outside air quality, thus protecting the safety of building occupants. Together with a building management system, the sensors control the air quality in air handling units and can follow the air pollution across multiple rooms. When helping to improve air quality in buildings we use our PM2.5 range of fine dust sensors to detect particles, or particulate matter (PM) down to 2.5μm (2.5 microns).

Integrating purifiers into the HVAC system offers significant advantages: a purifier cleans the air by blowing it through a filter with a fan. A ventilation system creates an air flow and integrating the filter into this airflow allows significant overall efficiency gains. Also, while the primary HVAC system is a potential inlet for fine dust and pollution, cleaning the air at the inlet acts as a prevention. However, since fine dust also enters through many small holes in a building and is not a gas that can be removed in one place by suction, there is also a need for local air purification and cleaning.

Studies suggest that nextgeneration HVAC control systems will incorporate measuring capabilities for pollution factors such as fine dust. This enables a trade-off between providing fresh air and reducing indoor CO₂, as well as the introduction of pollution from outside. Smart algorithms also anticipate pollution based on weather forecast, e.g. a building is ventilated in the middle of the night, when pollution is typically low, or before a weather situation occurs that typically comes with high fine dust concentration. 

Indoor Air Quality

Graham Temple is marketing manager at

Mitsubishi Electric

Free first step to better IAQ

A new guide offers practical steps that facility managers and building owners can take to measure indoor air quality (IAQ) and offers advice on the questions to ask ventilation experts. Graham Temple explains

ast December, the government

Lreleased updates to the Building Regulations with Approved Documents covering

Part L (energy efficiency) and Part

F (ventilation) to further its net zero agenda. It also introduced a new

Part O which deals with the issue of overheating in modern dwellings and pointed the way to a new Part Z which will cover the embodied carbon in buildings.

The increasing of standards in these areas is also completely in line with the trend in the wider business community of focusing on environmental sustainability and wellbeing in our built environment.

This comes on the back of the global pandemic, where the importance of good ventilation in internal spaces has become a major issue.

We spend around 90 per cent of our time indoors yet few people realise that the air inside a building can be up to five times more harmful for you than the air outdoors.

This is because buildings can be full of things that release what are known as Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). These come from the things like paint, furniture, photocopiers, printers and even from perfume and dry cleaned clothes. Even the glue in building materials and finishes such as MDF laminate flooring and even furniture can also give off harmful chemicals.

Yet indoor air quality has often remained the ‘poor cousin’ to other environmental and comfort issues. For many companies it can be difficult to know where to go to get advice.

That’s the starting point for the new free guide focusing on indoor air quality produced by Mitsubishi in collaboration with the Building

Engineering Services Association (BESA). ‘Buildings as Safe Havens – a practical guide’ is the third in its suite of guidance for measuring, monitoring, and improving indoor air quality (IAQ).

The BASH Guide offers practical steps that facility managers and building owners can take to measure indoor air quality (IAQ) and offers advice on the questions to ask ventilation experts. It completes the

BESA trilogy of free guides designed to help building owners and managers turn their buildings into ‘safe havens’ that protect occupants from health risks linked to airborne contaminants and viruses.

The foreword is provided by one of the UK’s most respected experts on infection resilience in buildings, Prof. Cath Noakes OBE, professor of environmental engineering for buildings at the University of Leeds and a member of the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE). Poor ventilation is the most overlooked building safety issue and can be directly linked to high levels of Covid-19 transmission, she states. “Covid-19 has been shown to be transmitted through the air. Even if only 10 per cent of all Covid-19 related deaths in the UK could be directly attributed to the failure to adequately ventilate indoor spaces, that would be more than 15,000 since the start of the pandemic – a shocking statistic that should make everyone sit up and take notice,” she writes in her foreword.

“The pandemic has demonstrated that far too many of our buildings are under-ventilated, despite regulatory requirements that have been in place for a number of years,” adds Prof. Noakes. “This guide will be an invaluable tool in raising awareness of the importance of good IAQ and making our buildings more infection resilient.”

The pandemic has demonstrated that too many buildings are under ventilated

A better grasp on IAQ

This guidance is designed to give building managers a better grasp of the complexities of IAQ and arm them with the right questions to challenge the competence of their FMs and building services providers. It also explains the options available for different building types and will be invaluable in helping specifiers avoiding so called ‘miracle cures’ for IAQ problems.

The guide provides a step-bystep strategy for monitoring and maintaining good IAQ in offices, schools, and public buildings and provides advice and strategies for dealing with ventilation problems.

It outlines the questions building managers should ask their ventilation and air quality specialists so they can properly address their IAQ problems, and provides recommendations for conducting a building review, planning for improvements, and selecting the right technology.

The guide contains a building review spreadsheet to help building managers identify areas that require improvement. This is designed on a traffic light system, with actions categorised as red, amber, and green, and works in tandem with an IAQ monitoring spreadsheet.

The contents of the guide were steered by a technical committee led by Nathan Wood, chair of BESA’s Health and Wellbeing in Buildings group, and the association’s head of technical, Graeme Fox. “Most buildings do not have any active ventilation management,” says Wood. “At the top end of the market, the issue is well understood, and expertise is on hand to put best practice into effect, but our priority now is to find ways of helping the thousands of buildings that have no ventilation strategy and lack the information and expertise to prepare for the next health emergency.

“That is why BESA is working hard to raise awareness and provide free guidance that can improve competence and compliance across the ventilation industry – and broaden the pool of ventilation expertise to take on this massive task.”

Hern Yau, ventilation product specialist at Mitsubishi Electric, added that the pandemic had emphasised the importance of ventilating indoor spaces. “This guide will help contribute to a greater understanding of the type of equipment available, as well as encouraging more productive conversations about what can be achieved in our buildings in the longterm,” he added. “It also reinforces the importance of building managers only working with properly trained and competent IAQ specialists.” 

● All three BESA guides addressing indoor air quality (IAQ) can be downloaded for free from: www. theBESA.com/iaq

Indoor Air Quality

Bruno Guedes is IAQ product manager at

Airedale

Good maintenance leads to good IAQ

Bruno Guedes examines why good indoor air quality and energy efficiency can only go hand in hand when accompanied by close attention to the care of air handling units

he office in the centre of a

Tbusy city, the hospital ward in your county and the school in your village don’t have much in common other than the fact somewhere, hidden behind plant room doors, an air handling unit is (hopefully) silently delivering fresh, clean, tempered air into the building while removing contaminated stale air and making use of waste heat to keep the building warm.

These wonderful machines, costing thousands to hundreds of thousands of pounds, are often left abandoned and forgotten in a dusty plantroom until something, somewhere, goes wrong. Lack of inspection, maintenance and cleaning will ruin this expensive piece of kit. Fortunately, there are many measures that can be taken to ensure air handling units are performing their best to deliver clean fresh air free of harmful contaminants to the ventilated spaces that people occupy. Here are the most important considerations:

Good maintenance starts at design and well before the air handling unit is physically manufactured. If appropriate access and facilities for cleaning are not considered at the design stage, it is almost certain that maintenance will suffer somewhere down the line.

When space for installation on site is limited, access is often the first feature to be sacrificed. Removing access might seem an easy way to reduce the footprint of the equipment and make it more commercially attractive but this is in fact a big mistake.

Higher pressure loss

Lack of space for access leads to the process of maintaining the equipment becoming less appealing, lengthier, and sometimes outright impossible. After a few years of accumulated dust and dirt, components will produce significantly higher pressure loss and heat exchangers will lose some of their thermal performance, leading to additional fan and pump power consumption.

Crucially, the quality of the air supplied by the equipment also suffers. Uncleaned areas can trap moisture, which in turn can lead to

Regular inspection and replacement of the filters will ensure AHUs remain clean

microbial growth. Sufficient space between components is crucial in order to ensure all relevant areas of the unit are accessible to be cleaned. Areas where condensate forms such as chilled water heat exchangers, heat recovery devices require particular attention.

If space is at a premium and conceding on access space is unavoidable it’s better that access sections are reduced but not entirely removed. In very compact units the removal of components on a drawer type arrangement is a good solution to get around the lack of access.

AHUs serve buildings in a multitude of applications and environments. The outdoor environment in a city centre will contain more contaminants per m3 than a rural area and therefore requires a significantly higher grade of filtration to achieve a similar indoor air quality. The contaminants are also not the same, the presence of diesel by-products in cities means that particulate filtration might not be sufficient and gas filtration might be recommended.

ISO 16890 and BS EN 167981:2019 provide detailed guidance on air filter grades and the selection of the appropriate level of filtration for each environment. Over-specification of filters has a high energy cost and under-specification will impact on the IAQ of the building and the health of its occupants, therefore choosing the right level of filtration and providing the right balance between filtration and energy consumption is all the more fundamental.

Internal and external leakage

Leakage in air handling units comes in two flavours – internal and external. External leakage includes infiltration (from the environment to the unit) and exfiltration (from the unit to the environment). The latter mostly impacts energy efficiency as any air lost through exfiltration will need to be supplemented by additional fresh air to achieve the required supply air volume. This means fans have to work harder to achieve this and the equipment will cost more to run.

The former has consequences for the quality of the air supplied by the unit. Any infiltration downstream of the filters will consist of unfiltered and unconditioned air. If infiltration is sufficiently high it will undermine the performance of the filters.

Internal leakage is down to leakage between airflows in the unit itself. This can happen through the air handling unit casing and also the heat recovery device (now a mandatory component for most supply and extract systems). To avoid this, areas of the AHU that share airflow on the extract and supply should be appropriately sealed.

Another potential leakage area is the filters themselves. Improperly fitted, poorly sealed, too big/small will lead to filter frame bypass leakage, which means a portion of the air that is supposed to be passing through the filter media ends up completely bypassing it. This should be tested by the manufacturer but can be easily compromised by lack of care during the replacement of the filters.

Regular inspection and replacement of the filters will keep the equipment clean and prevent accumulation of dirt in most places. With regular filter replacement and inspection, an AHU plant may only need to be cleaned every 2-3 years. The important thing is to keep checking behind those plant room doors! 

Products in Action

Grilles and diffusers help performance of Birmingham's 'greenest' building

103 Colmore Row is Birmingham’s tallest office building and “one of the cleanest and greenest”, achieving BREEAM Excellent.

Built by BAM Construct UK, the 21,000+m2 building uses 100 per cent renewable energy for its electricity, with air conditioning and heating throughout the 26-storey tower being provided via a four pipe fancoil system.

Air movement specialist Gilberts worked closely with BAM and global engineering and consulting firm Arup to refine the specification of the grilles and diffusers in line with the requirement to achieve ventilation of 12l/person and a constant 22°C(±2°) throughout the Grade A offices.

To attain the desired air distribution patterns, the air is circulated predominantly through Gilberts’ GSL linear slot diffusers. The GSLs ventilate almost 90 per cent of the 30 levels including lower ground and basement. Fitted into bulkheads around the perimeter of each office floor, the slot diffusers provide supply and extract of air and ensure a consistent and constant view through the floor to ceiling glazing. The GSLs were also installed into plank ceiling tiles to deliver air across the 743- 1,115m2 floor plates on each level.

Either three or four slots was specified depending on location of the diffuser, to precisely balance the required airflow to keep the glazing clear of possible condensation and sufficient draught-free ventilation for the occupants across the office area.

The slot diffusers are complimented where required - such as break-out areas, the business lounge, café and restrooms - with GECA eggcrate ceiling grilles, GDC-A circular face swirl diffusers and SX-100 air valves. 

Uninterruptible power supply at research building Dehumidifiers help dry age meat at state-of-the-art London facility

The University of Warwick’s (UoW) new Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Building (IBRB) is the new home for a uninterruptible power system.

The new IBRB builds on UoW’s existing world-class research in neuroscience, microbiology and infection, cell biology, and disease models, supporting and facilitating interdisciplinary biomedical research of the highest quality.

In June 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, a Kohler PowerWAVE 8000DPA 100kVA was installed in the IBRB’s new services room located in the basement. This new UPS system was commissioned to support a network of critical power outlets throughout the building. These are used for designated equipment that must continuously function throughout a power disturbance, including analytical and monitoring systems that form part of critical experimental equipment. Based on the initial load, a 100kVA system was selected with 20-minutes battery autonomy, an external bypass switch, cable box for top entry cabling plus site load bank testing to confirm everything was working and delivering what it should.

If the protected equipment were exposed to a power failure, it would result in months of research being lost, key results invalidated, and crucial samples destroyed. Ultimately, this would lead to a significant delay in the research of diseases for the general public. With the designated KUP system in place however, power dips will not result in equipment resets, and any spikes will be prevented from reaching and damaging sensitive components. If the power fails completely, the battery backup system will immediately begin supplying power until the mains power is restored or the onsite standby generator comes online. Featuring energy efficiency of up to 95.5 per cent, low THDi and a near unity power factor the PowerWAVE 8000DPA UPS system does this whilst minimising environmental impact and ensuring a low cost of ownership.

Nigel Harrington, Power Protection Specialist at KUP continues the story. “Whilst lithium-ion batteries were considered, their cost and the lack of recycling infrastructure meant VRLA (valve regulated leadacid) batteries were chosen. VRLA batteries are around a third of the cost and with a well-established recycling infrastructure – they are 98 per cent recyclable.  MUNTERS has supplied three MLT800 desiccant dehumidifiers to Fairfax London to create the optimal relative humidity levels for their meat maturation rooms.

Part of Fairfax Meadow, Fairfax London opened a purpose-built facility in 2018 complete with maturation rooms dehumidified by Munters.

“When we designed this depot, our focus was to have a state-of-the-art maturation facility with a Himalayan salt wall. This would enable us to create the best possible premium dry-aged beef,” says Rob Shears, head of sales at Fairfax London.

Munters recommended an MLT800 desiccant dehumidifier to dry age the beef in what became the first of three maturation rooms. “Each customer has their own, unique set of requirements to create their perfect climate, and here we suggested somewhere between 0-2°C, and between 50-80 per cent relative humidity,” says Glen Wilson, senior sales engineer for Munters.

Less than six months later, demand for the dry-age beef had doubled and the maturation room was filling up. This substantial growth was attributed to the superior quality of the meat, and the precise conditions in which it is aged - thanks to the Munters desiccant dehumidifier.

After acquiring a key client in premium casual dining, Fairfax London ordered another MLT800 desiccant dehumidifier for their second maturation room which, like the first room, quickly filled up. 