Northern California School District Installs 1,500 Carrier OptiClean Units to Support Healthier Indoor Environments
FIGURE 1: Jorge Rodriguez, a custodian at McParland School in Manteca Unified School District, stands with the district’s first delivered OptiClean unit. Photo courtesy of Carrier
To prepare for its facilities fully reopening to students and staff, northern California’s Manteca Unified School District installed 1,500 Carrier OptiClean™ Dual-Mode Air Scrubber and Negative Air Machines to purify the air in classrooms across its 30 schools. The OptiClean units will help to improve indoor air quality (IAQ) for the district, as its more than 27,000 students, teachers, and staff return to campuses.
“We’ve spent the last several months analyzing every facet of our organization in order to develop a comprehensive strategy designed to create a healthier environment for our students and staff,” said Dr. Clark Burke, superintendent, Manteca Unified School District. “The air quality in our area is often affected by the extensive local agricultural industry, and, lately, regional wildfires have also contributed to poor air quality. After reviewing a number of IAQ solutions available, we are confident that the OptiClean product is the right fit for our needs. By placing an OptiClean unit in each classroom, we feel that we’ll not only help improve our IAQ but also provide peace of mind to our students, their parents, and staff.”
“Schools and school districts continue to evaluate the IAQ of their facilities and what can be done to help improve those environments for their students and staff,” said Justin Keppy, president, NA residential and light commercial, Carrier. “We’re pleased to be working with Manteca Unified School District by providing one part of the solution for healthier and safer indoor environments. Our OptiClean units can help reduce contaminants in classroom air and inspire confidence for parents, students, teachers, and staff as school districts safely return to in-person learning.”
Manteca Unified School District is one of several in California to choose OptiClean equipment as part of its IAQ solution. Among others are Southern California’s San Bernardino City Unified and Alvord Unified school districts. The two recently purchased 3,700 and 1,500 units, respectively, in anticipation of the return of their collective 80,000 students, teachers, and staff.
The OptiClean Dual-Mode Air Scrubber and Negative Air Machine has been named one of TIME’s 100 Best Inventions of 2020. It was developed through rapid innovation in early 2020 to help support infectious isolation rooms in hospitals as a negative air machine. TIME featured the OptiClean Air Scrubber and Negative Air Machine in the medical care category of its annual list that recognizes 100 groundbreaking inventions that are making the world better and smarter.
OptiClean is one of a number of solutions offered through Carrier's Healthy Buildings Program that was recently expanded to help K-12 students, teachers, and staff safely return to in-school instruction. The new BluEdge K-12 program provides an outcome-based approach to help schools easily select the best IAQ kits for their needs, with attractive pricing and easier implementation.
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