Commercial Air Purification: Discover the Power of
HEPA Plus UVC Air Purification
Commercial and high traffic environments attract large volumes of the public, creating a heightened need toward improving indoor air quality. All commercial environments are subject to exposure to tiny particulate matter floating in the air. Invisible in nature, these harmful contaminants often get overlooked. To effectively manage the air purification demands of busy environments, commercial air purification systems are required, which are designed to handle large spaces such as office buildings, retail stores, hospitals, nursing homes, banks, schools, and restaurants.
Determining the type of commercial air purifier most suitable for your commercial space depends on a number of factors; yet a multi-level system, such as one that includes both HEPA filtration and UVC Air Purification, will provide a powerful solution for improving the indoor air quality for your commercial building occupants.
What are Commercial Air Purifiers?
Commercial Air Purifiers are devices designed to clean the air in large spaces by using highly efficient filters. They are typically mounted on the wall or ceiling by professionals, to keep them out of the way of people and equipment. Advanced devices include additional methods of purification, such as UVC lamps, that go above and beyond the filter alone. Also referred to as Upper-Room Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI) by The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), systems that include UVC lamps and that are well installed and maintained can effectively kill the virus that causes COVID-19 and help protect people from disease indoors.
True High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters (officially defined by the U.S. Dept. of Energy) are a type of pleated mechanical air filter that are effective at removing ultra-fine particles such as dust, pollen, mold, toxins and other common allergens often found in the workspace, hospitals, and other commercial environments.
HEPA filters are airtight and work to capture particles within a dense mat of randomly arranged fibers through a combination of three physical mechanisms: impaction, interception, and diffusion. The result is that cleaner, purified air is released back into the room. The air purifier uses a fan to draw the air into the device, which is then forced through an intricate, maze-like structure of the filter material.
The three mechanisms by which particles are captured are:
Impaction: Larger particles (like large dust or pet hair) are heavy and unable to follow the curving airstream around the filter's fibers due to their inertia. They collide directly with the fibers and become embedded.
Interception: Medium-sized particles that are small enough to follow the airflow come within one radius of a fiber and stick to it due to weak molecular forces (van der Waals forces).
Diffusion: Very small, ultrafine particles (such as viruses and smoke particles) move erratically, colliding with gas molecules (a phenomenon known as Brownian motion). This erratic movement increases the likelihood of them hitting and adhering to the filter fibers. This mechanism is most effective for particles below 0.1 microns.
A certified HEPA filter is designed to remove at least 99.97% of all airborne particles that are 0.3 micrometers (µm) in diameter, which is considered the most penetrating particle size (MPPS). Particles that are larger or smaller than this size are actually trapped with even higher efficiency.
Key Factors You Need to Consider as not all Commercial Air Purifiers are Created Equally
When exploring the world of commercial air purification, there are five areas to pay particular attention to, which will help set apart the types of systems available in the market.
1. Filtration efficiency – usually expressed as a percentage (i.e. 99.97%), filter efficiency refers to how effectively an air filter or air purification system can remove airborne particles from the air as it passes through the filter. Simply put, it measures the percentage of particles a filter can capture at a given size (often measured in microns). The higher the filtration efficiency, the more particles the filter can remove. This is a key indicator of how well the system can actually improve indoor air quality.
The best commercial air purification systems on the market are designed to address 3 main contaminants that affect Indoor Air Quality.
1. PM (Particulate Matter), such as dust, smoke and dirt
2. VOCs, such as aerosols and chemicals
3. Biological contaminants (BCs), such as bacteria, viruses, and mold
2. Clean Air Delivery Rate - also known as CADR, is a key performance metric that tells you how much clean, filtered air an air purifier can deliver each minute. It is a measure of speed (how much air the purifier can move through the filters) + effectiveness (how well the system removes particles like dust, pollen, and smoke). A higher CADR means the purifier can clean more air, faster, and helps you understand whether a specific unit is sized correctly for the room or commercial space in question.
3. Filter Size – in commercial air purifiers, size of filter matters as it directly affects performance, airflow, lifespan, and overall air quality. Larger filters capture more contaminants since they have more surface area, allowing them to trap more dust, allergens, bacteria, and other particles before becoming clogged. In addition, they allow air to pass through more easily. More surface area also translates to a longer filter life, as the filter fills up more slowly, resulting in fewer replacements, more consistent performance, and lower operating costs for commercial facilities. Lastly, larger filters provide stable and reliable performance in bigger spaces, as commercial environments require high-volume air cleaning.
4. Noise Levels – Workplaces, schools, healthcare spaces, and retail environments require quiet operation. A loud purifier can become distracting or irritating, especially with continuous operation. Taking into consideration comfort for its occupants, building and facility operators are tasked to implement air purification systems that operate on a quieter level. A quieter system helps maintain a calm, productive environment.
a. Compliance with noise standards: Many commercial spaces - offices, hospitals, classrooms - have acoustic requirements. A noisy purifier may violate these standards or require relocation to less optimal areas.
b. Continuous operation: Purifiers need to run constantly to be effective. If a unit is too loud, people tend to turn it down, off, or move it, reducing the actual air-cleaning performance
c. Customer and guest experience: quiet air purification supports a better overall experience
5. Control Flexibilities – these are different ways a system can be monitored, adjusted, and managed to meet the needs of a specific space. They make the purifier easier to operate, more efficient and better suited to varying indoor environments. This means having the ability to easily manage how a commercial air purifier runs (automatically or manually) to get the right performance at the right time. They typically include:
a. Multiple speed or airflow settings, allowing adjustability for air cleaning power based on occupancy and pollution levels, as well as time of day
b. Automated or smart controls with features such as auto mode, air quality sensors, filter-life monitoring, and scheduled operation
c. Remote control or app-based management allowing facility managers to operate and adjust the unit across multiple rooms or buildings
d. Integration with building management systems (BMS)
e. Variable operation modes such as quiet mode, high-power mode, UVC-only mode, after-hours deep-clean mode
f. Safety and lockout features for child safety, tamper-resistant controls, or restricted access for maintenance staff
The Power of Multi-Level Commercial Air Purification
Multi-level commercial air purification systems, like Allanson’s AirGuard C600, provide powerful protection against harmful airborne pathogens in commercial spaces such as hospitals, offices, restaurants, retail spaces, nursing homes, and schools.
Incorporating additional technologies into commercial air purification systems, such as UVC, help maximize indoor air quality for commercial building occupants.
UV air purification systems use short-wave ultraviolet light (between 100 – 280 nm), also known as UV-C light. They differ from other methods such as HEPA filters, as they work to deactivate the molecular structure of various airborne pathogens like mold, bacteria, viruses, fungi, and allergens. This process, recognized as ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI), can be used to sanitize air, water, and surfaces.
HEPA filters alone simply physically capture the particles, and in most cases smaller microorganisms get past the HEPA filter and recirculate in the air that you breathe. UVC Air Purification Systems, on the other hand, especially at the 254 nm wavelength range, most effectively damage the genetic structure of the microorganisms, preventing them from multiplying, therefore deactivating them, and ultimately removing them from your indoor air.
Therefore, combining both HEPA and UVC technologies provide highly effective solutions toward improving indoor air quality, as supported by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
Benefits of Implementing Commercial Air Purifiers
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Allanson’s AirGuard C600 HEPA + UVC Commercial Ceiling Unit
With over 2 decades of experience in the UV air disinfection space, and nearly a century of engineering experience, Allanson has recently introduced AirGuard C600 HEPA plus UVC Commercial Ceiling Unit.
Allanson’s AirGuard C600 commercial-grade UVC Air Purification Ceiling Fixtures boast multi-stage filtration and UVC sterilization chambers that purify indoor air up to 99.99%+.
Allanson’s cost-effective commercial air purifier is carefully designed and engineered for maximum performance and safety. Integrated smart sensing technology allows for efficient and timely replacement of critical components. This unique feature, the only one in its class, ensures continuous operation and air purification.
Using a cross-flow fan, AirGuard circulates the air multiple times every hour. Each unit includes 2 filters (pre-filter and H12 or medical grade H13 HEPA filter), and a powerful 36W UVC lamp. It draws in untreated air, passes it through both filters, then through a high UVC radiation chamber to sterilize the air before releasing the purified air.
The Bottom Line
Commercial Air Purification is an investment in your business, helping to boost the bottom line and improving working conditions for everyone. In schools, these professional, highly effective air purifiers support students in increasing productivity and focus, and in hospital settings, they significantly minimize transmission of airborne microorganisms, ultimately reducing hospital-associated infections (HAIs).
In summary, when implementing a commercial air purification system for your building, be sure to consider a number of key factors that will help in determining best suitability for your building needs:
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