Engineered Systems NEWSHVAC Engineering SectorsVentilation and IAQEducational Facilities HVAC

Southern California School District Utilizes Air Scrubbers to Ensure Safe Return to Class

The OptiClean units will help to improve IAQ for the district, as its more than 60,000 students, teachers, and staff return to campuses.

To prepare for its facilities reopening to students and staff, California’s San Bernardino City Unified School District will install 3,700 Carrier OptiClean™ Dual-Mode Air Scrubber and Negative Air Machines to purify the air in classrooms across its 72 schools. The OptiClean units will help to improve IAQ for the district, as its more than 60,000 students, teachers, and staff return to campuses. This announcement comes on the heels of the recent acquisition of 1,500 OptiClean units by the Alvord Unified School District in Riverside, California, to assist with administration’s plan for the return of 20,000 students, teachers, and staff to the district’s 23 campuses. Carrier is a part of Carrier Global Corporation, a global provider of healthy, safe, and sustainable building and cold chain solutions.

“The safety of our students, teachers, and staff in our facilities is of the utmost importance as we develop a plan for their return to our campuses,” said Tom Pace, director of facilities, San Bernardino City Unified School District. “After reviewing a number of indoor air quality solutions during this process, we are confident that the OptiClean product is the best fit for our needs, and we believe the features and benefits of this product will be effective in both helping to improve our indoor air quality as well as providing peace of mind to our students, their parents, and staff that they will be returning to a healthier environment.”

“Many schools and school districts are currently in the process of assessing what steps can be taken to safely welcome back students, teachers, and staff,” said Justin Keppy, president, NA residential and light commercial, Carrier. “We’re happy to be working with the San Bernardino City Unified School District by providing one part of the solution to help enhance indoor air quality. Our OptiClean units can help reduce contaminants in classroom air, and, when coupled with mitigation best practices such as frequent hand washing, social distancing, use of face coverings, and more, may help reduce risks to students, teachers and school staff.”

The Carrier OptiClean units provide a number of features and benefits that offer schools a flexible, effective product for their facilities:

Units are available in 600- and 1,500-cfm models to accommodate rooms of various sizes. One 600-cfm unit can adequately clean the air in a typical classroom; the 1,500-cfm unit is designed for larger spaces. In both cases, multiple units can be used for more expansive spaces.
The units are portable and plug into a standard wall outlet.
OptiClean units use a 99.97% efficient, long-life HEPA filter to remove contaminants as small as 0.3 microns and discharge cleaner air back into the room.
OptiClean units exceed the minimum standard of two air changes per hour for portable electric HEPA machines recommended by ASHRAE® in school reopenings (when properly specified).
Each unit requires only about 3 square feet of floor space when oriented vertically and can also be operated horizontally, allowing for convenient, unobstructed placement in classrooms, cafeterias, libraries, or gymnasiums.

OptiClean is one of a number of solutions offered through Carrier's Healthy Buildings Program that can aid school districts in addressing IAQ-related issues. Other product features and upgrades include filters with high MERV or HEPA ratings; UV lights to clean inside HVAC equipment; Agion® anti-microbial coating, which can be applied to protect equipment against bacterial growth; economizers; and a Humidi-MiZer® dehumidification system.

The San Bernardino City Unified School District serves approximately 48,000 students and is the ninth-largest school district in California. The District is comprised of 50 elementary, 11 middle, eight high schools, and one adult school.