HEALTH AND WELLBEING | NEWS Elta partners with Airthings to offer remote monitoring Ventilation company Elta Group is to offer air monitoring solutions following a partnership agreement with sensor technology company Airthings. Elta says the collaboration will allow customers to monitor air quality and identify what ventilation strategies are necessary to ensure a healthy indoor environment. Airthings sensors can measure radon, CO2, relative humidity, and PM2.5, and send all data via a central hub to the cloud, after which a detailed dashboard is created. As a result of the partnership, Elta intends to take a more advisory role in the monitoring of air quality and consequent ventilation strategies. It said the business recently received one of the UKs first Reset Air Certificates at its head office in the Midlands. In achieving the accreditation, the company decreased its peak CO2 levels by 33%. Reset Air Certification requires that air quality is continuously monitored throughout the lifetime of the project. Vent-Axia launches mechanical extract ventilation Vent-Axia has launched the Lo-Carbon NBR dMEV C, a decentralised mechanical extract ventilation (dMEV) unit that is designed to meet Building Regulations and provide improved air quality efficiently. The system has been tested to the new SAP 10 performance requirement and is listed in the Product Characteristics Database with specific fan power (SFP) values as low as 0.08 w/l/s, sound tested as low as 7.4 dB (a whisper is around 30dB). Vent-Axia says low SFP and sound power levels are achieved through an air pathway design that promotes turbulent airflow, allowing for a predictable performance curve. It says high pressure development and the silent mixed flow impeller allows the Lo-Carbon dMEV C to meet the requirements of many domestic installations without the need to use a centrifugal fan. STRICT COVID RULES IMPROVED AIR QUALITY, STUDY SHOWS Cities with more stringent Covid-19 restrictions were more likely to have better air quality during the pandemic, according to a new study. The research was led by Heresh Amini, a fellow of the Cyprus Harvard Endowment Programme for the Environment and Public Health. Researchers analysed 1,851 cities in 149 countries and found that NO2 levels decreased by 5% in cities that implemented the strictest Covid-19 containment policies. Pollution did not change significantly in cities with moderate Covid-19 policies. Last opportunity to enter 2023 CIBSE awards New categories created for products and innovations this year Entries for the 2023 CIBSE Building Performance Awards held in March close on 14 September. Entries are invited for products or innovations introduced or launched from 1 September 2019 to 31 August 2022. There are three categories associated with health and wellbeing: thermal comfort, wellbeing, and air quality. The 2022 winners were: Knauf Insulation & Knauf Energy Solutions for thermal comfort; Water Kinetics Eco-Duo for wellbeing; and Signify UV-C Upper Air Disinfection Luminaires for air quality (see page 56). There are also new categories introduced this year, for Building Safety and two for Embodied Carbon. The winners will be announced at Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, London, on Wednesday, 1 March 2023. CIBSE-accredited CPD courses cover UV-C and biophilic design Lighting company Signify has announced five new CIBSE-accredited CPD courses. They include a training webinar on UV-C for disinfection, which looks at how managers and installers can ensure safe use of the technology. It also focuses on how it works, the research conducted to date, the benefits, and applications to help keep air and surfaces free from viruses and bacteria. Another new webinar is by Harvard Professor Edward Nardell on why UV air disinfection is essential from a medical perspective. There is also a course on biophilic design, which incorporates natural light indoors. The CPD course also covers the core principles and 14 patterns of biophilic design. All courses last an hour and are available on the Signify Lighting Academy. The other two CPDs are on Connected Lighting and an introduction to LiFi called Trulifi by Signify. 48 September 2022 www.cibsejournal.com CIBSE Sept 22 pp48 News Supp.indd 48 26/08/2022 18:35