Fit Out Awards 2020: Finalist

Fit Out Project of the Year – Retail

 

The team at McKeon Group are delighted to be named amongst the selected finalists in the Fit Out Awards 2020 for our retail project at Dublin’s iconic Royal Hibernian Way.  You can read more about this project here: https://mckeon.ie/project-detail/royal-hibernian-way/ 

 

 

Launched in 2012, the annual Fit Out Awards recognise and celebrate excellence in this specialist sector. Ireland-based fit out teams have earned a reputation for world-class delivery and not even the pandemic can dampen our enthusiasm for the celebration – albeit a virtual one! In previous years, the Awards Gala events have been social highlights for the industry, whereas this year’s event on November 25th will take place exclusively online, with leading business broadcaster Richard Curran hosting. This digital ceremony promises to be a fun and interactive event, with award winners engaging in live interviews on the night.

Like every other industry, in almost every other country across the world, 2020 has been a uniquely challenging year. There has been a shared sense of facing these challenges together and embracing new HSE/CIF safety protocols to keep sites open and to keep project momentum going. We can truly say there has never been a more important time for the industry to celebrate; to celebrate great projects, top standards of excellence and, of course, top class colleagues.  The past nine months brought out the best in the industry, reaffirming our well-earned reputation for resilience and ingenuity.  We look forward to celebrating this on 25th!

Best of luck to all of our industry peers shortlisted in the https://www.fitoutawards.ie 2020, particularly those peers nominated alongside McKeon Group’s Royal Hibernian Way project in the Retail category:

~  Allcare Pharmacy, Merrion Shopping Centre

~  Chadwicks Drogheda

~  Chadwicks Gorey

~  Cloud 9 Furniture

~  Junction 14 Mayfield

 

 Best of luck to all involved!

 

About McKeon Group:

Established in 1950, this year marks the 70th anniversary of McKeon Group, which remains a family business. ISO certified for more than two decades, McKeon Group offers expert construction, fitout and building services. The Group delivers projects, services and maintenance across a range of sectors for State, local authority, FDI and private clients. For more information, contact McKeon.ie www.mckeon.ie

 

McKeon Group: Brú na Bóinne Visitors Centre at Newgrange

McKeon Group Brings State of the Art Heating to Ancient Ireland  

In a manner of speaking!

 

 

Brú na Bóinne Visitors’ Centre at Newgrange 

 

While 2020 marks the 70th year of operation for McKeon Group (and you can read about our celebratory community initiative here),  October this year marks a decade since the establishment of the Mechanical Division.  Coinciding with the division’s 10th anniversary, the McKeon Group team were  delighted to hand over a prestigious project at Brú na Bóinne Visitors’ Centre Newgrange, carried out on behalf of the Office of Public Works.

 

This visitors’ centre in Newgrange is a multimedia interpretative centre for the World Heritage designated ancient burial tombs site of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth. As a multi-purpose building with large, open exhibition and viewing spaces, including a souvenir shop, eatery and offices, the building needed an upgrade to its heating and control system to enhance the visitor experience and to ensure maximum year-round comfort for both visitors and staff.  

 

McKeon Group mechanical division were selected to provide a state of the art boilerhouse upgrade with a new building management system to control the comfort levels within the space.  The project works included a full strip out of existing LPHW heat generation and distribution equipment serving all areas of the visitor centre and the installation of a new system including the following (photo gallery below):

 

~ Boilers & Flues

~ Primary, secondary pipework & Valves

~ Plate Heat Exchanger 1200kW

~ Circulating Pumps and Pressurisation equipment

~ Building Management System with a new front end PC and graphics tailored to suit the various zones within the visitor’s centre

~ Gas Detection and emergency isolation system

~ Gas Pipework Installation

~ Domestic Hot Water Calorifier, complete with anti-legionella pumping arrangement

 

Installation of numerous temperature sensors throughout the exhibition and circulation spaces of this complex building has provided the facility with the means to closely control the temperatures in various zones throughout the building, helping to provide visitors to this iconic site with the best experience of ancient Ireland.

 

Despite COVID -19 restrictions and the project start being delayed by a nest full of fledgling robins, who just happened to build their nest in the boiler house door, the project was completed and commissioned to the satisfaction of the Office of Public Works on programme and within budget!

 

About McKeon Group

Established in 1950, this year marks the 70th anniversary of McKeon Group, which remains a family business. ISO certified for more than two decades, McKeon Group offers expert construction, fitout and building services. The Group delivers projects, services and maintenance across a range of sectors for State, local authority, FDI and private clients. For more information, contact: www.mckeon.ie 

 

 

McKeon Group: Driving Revenue Growth through Pipedrive

How McKeon Group Grew Their Annual Revenue by 186% in Four Years with Pipedrive

 

Case study available in full at: https://www.pipedrive.com/en/blog/mckeon-group-case-study 

 

 

 

 

  • McKeon Group and their sister company Hereworks have been using Pipedrive across the company for four years. Now 26 of their 80 employees use it, including sales, directors and quantity surveyors.

 

  • Using the CRM has helped the team save easily 40 hours a week, essentially the value of a whole new colleague, and they are averaging 60 proposals a month across all divisions.

 

  • Pipedrive has helped them strategically focus their efforts and increase their annual revenue by 186% in four years.

 

In the four years since the company adopted Pipedrive, McKeon Group has almost doubled the size of its team and almost tripled its revenue. This growth started after Sales & Marketing Director Paul McKenna led an initiative to focus more on high-value prospects, using Pipedrive to identify them. Now Pipedrive enables the 26 team members using the CRM to collaborate, keep track of opportunities and cross-sell services.

 

McKeon Group provides services across five sectors: construction, mechanical services, electrical services, maintenance and, through their sister company Hereworks, audiovisual and smart building integration. With their main client base in Ireland, but also projects in mainland Europe, McKeon Group has successfully developed from a small family company to an international one—without losing their ability to build strong relationships.

 

“Our USP is the completion of complex projects in live environments,” explains Sales & Marketing Director Paul McKenna. “With that end-to-end technical skillset of a construction division, mechanical services, electrical services, there’s a minor works team, and the technology division is a separate company now called Hereworks—automation, smart buildings, etc.”

 

The challenges McKeon were facing before

 

McKeon Group adopted Pipedrive in 2016 as the company looked to expand its sales and marketing efforts.

 

Paul started at the company as an electrician in 2007, when McKeon Group was a construction main contractor. He helped the company to develop its electrical division, a process they then replicated with their mechanical division, at which point the company became known as McKeon Group, in 2011. In 2014, Paul decided to look for a new challenge in business development.

 

“The approach that the company considered at the time was to just allow me to migrate into it, but I felt I needed to cut my teeth elsewhere,” explains Paul.

 

Two years later, McKeon Group persuaded him to come back as the business development manager to spearhead their sales and marketing strategy.

 

“At that stage,” says Paul, “there was no formalized process in place for actualizing growth plans, success was measured in turnover, as opposed to sales, and there were notional ideas around client types (but a lot of that came down to personality) and around the measures we were taking to be successful—there was no data there.

“As a company, we didn’t have a clear insight into what we were good at and what we weren’t. Forecasting was a challenge.”

In reality, we had a lot of activity around keeping busy rather than driving a goal-orientated business strategy. This is a family business, moving into their third generation, and there’s a different impetus.”

 

When Paul was hired, there was some opposition to having a salesperson within the company because that was “just not in their culture”.

It was actually the first time the company had a salesperson,” Paul tells us. “It was a serious change. Construction in Ireland is built upon relationships: who you know. Pipedrive massively supports this relationship management and was a focal point of that change in the business.”

 

“Pipedrive was used to change the hearts and minds of people who’d been in the business for over 20 years.”

 

 

Continue reading at: https://www.pipedrive.com/en/blog/mckeon-group-case-study 

 

 

About McKeon Group

Established in 1950, this year marks the 70th anniversary of McKeon Group, which remains a family business. ISO certified for more than two decades, McKeon Group offers expert construction, fitout and building services. The Group delivers projects, services and maintenance across a range of sectors for State, local authority, FDI and private clients. For more information, contact: www.mckeon.ie 

COVID-19 Preventative Measures vs. Energy Conservation in Office Buildings

~ By Jim Wheatley, Mechanical Services Director at McKeon Group

 

As professionals in the commercial mechanical services industry, our focus year-on-year has been energy efficiency, carbon footprint reduction and constantly reducing the financial and resource cost of human comfort in our built environment.

 

Then 2020 came along and everything got COVID-flipped.  Offices and company headquarters that are built and serviced for large numbers of people, are now only partially occupied with lots of the former occupants working remotely from home.  Staff members still working in the buildings are widely spaced around the building to ensure physical distancing is achieved.  

 

This is the worst possible scenario for energy conservation, as the entire premises still needs to be heated or cooled due to the spread of staff around the building for physical distancing reasons.  Centrally designed heating, ventilation and AC systems are not flexible enough in their functionality and control to be targeted at the person rather than the space, especially in office buildings that have large open plan areas.  As we head into the winter heating season, staff comfort costs and energy usage per office-based employee will have doubled or tripled this year due to COVID-19 restrictions.

 

Additionally, COVID-19 has forced a rethink on the established energy-saving methods employed in ventilation and air conditioning systems such as air recirculation, heat recovery, thermal wheels in AHUs and the provision of the minimum fresh air requirements for human comfort in normal circumstances.  The Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) is now advocating increased rates of direct fresh air supply and exhaust ventilation.  Recirculated air systems and transfer of air from one occupied space to another should be avoided where possible.

 

Some key actions recommended in the CIBSE Covid-19 Ventilation Guide (July 2020) are:

(1.)  Run ventilation systems at a higher volume flow rate. 

(2.) Avoid recirculation/transfer of air from one room to another unless this is the only way of providing adequately high ventilation to all occupied rooms.

(3.)  Thermal wheels, used for heat recovery in air handling units, should generally be switched off for the duration of the pandemic, to avoid possible contaminants passing from the extract air into the supply air stream.

(4.)  Central ventilation systems with recirculation mixing boxes should be set to full fresh air and full exhaust, by adjusting the dampers to avoid any possibility of contaminants being recirculated into the occupied space.

(5.) The use of recirculation fan coil units and split-type air conditioning units is to be discouraged unless there is an adequate source of fresh air, mechanical or natural, to the space.

 

Further information can be found in the CIBSE Covid-19 Ventilation Guidance: https://go.cibse.org/l/698403/2020-07-15/2n3qmd/698403/87225/CIBSE_Covid_Ventilation_Guidance_version_3_FINAL.pdf

 

 

Building and facilities managers will already be aware that these actions and the reduced occupancy levels will seriously impact on the budget for human comfort in their premises.  In many cases, recirculation fan coils and AC units are the only source of heating and cooling in the space.  

 

 

What is the building services manager to do in this instance?  Will he or she have to recommend closing large sections of the building because COVID-19 was not on the mind of the engineers at design stage?   

 

If we take the advice to the full extent, some office buildings are entirely unsuitable for occupancy in the winter during this pandemic, unless new heating systems are hurriedly installed to replace the recirculation air systems in place.  This is not going to happen, and the costs would be prohibitive and unsustainable for companies.  ‘Act in haste and repent at your leisure’ is the phrase that comes to mind in this instance.

 

 

The challenge for business owners, company boards, facility managers, designers and installers is to make changes slowly and adopt a wait and see approach as to how this pandemic will run.  They will need to continue with work practices where reduced numbers of staff are office-based and actively manage workspaces to provide minimum comfort levels to mitigate against the higher cost of heating all this fresh cold winter air.  

 

The winter of 2020/21 will bring challenges to companies in terms of productivity, HR and staffing issues and a significantly higher cost in staff comfort levels.  While the COVID-19 pandemic is with us, it looks like the hot topics of recent years, such as carbon footprint and energy conservation in the built environment may have to take a back seat.   

 

If we look globally at these issues, the scale of what is happening is jaw-dropping.  As the northern hemisphere moves into the heating season with an increased fresh air requirement, the southern hemisphere nations are moving into the peak cooling season with recirculation type air conditioning systems being singled out as possible spreaders of airborne pathogens.  Planet earth is likely to see a huge increase in carbon emissions over the coming months as businesses in the developed nations struggle to maintain comfort levels in workspaces, while adhering to COVID-19 protocols.

 

 

About McKeon Group

Established in 1950, this year marks the 70th anniversary of McKeon Group, which remains a family business. ISO certified for more than two decades, McKeon Group offers expert construction, fitout and building services. The Group delivers projects, services and maintenance across a range of sectors for State, local authority, FDI and private clients. For more information, contact: www.mckeon.ie 

 

 

McKeon Group Celebrates 70 Years in the Industry

McKeon Group was originally established back in 1950 under the name McKeon Construction by Tom McKeon. Back then, as one man and his van, Tom began providing construction and maintenance services to many of our current clients in and around Ashbourne. From making bricks to crafting his own hand tools, Tom was an innovator whose work ethic and values are reflected in the company today. 

 

In 1979, Tom’s son Tomás and his two brothers, Sean and Gay, registered McKeon Construction as a limited company. They wanted to build on their father’s legacy and his unwavering commitment to their clients. Tomás originally worked as a maths teacher but left the job (he always insisted he would never stop teaching), to work alongside his brothers, leading the newly registered company to success. And it was. The company became a multi-million euro construction contractor in the education, residential and commercial sectors. Tomás saw it as his responsibility to forge the pathway to education and continuous upskilling for all those who worked with him. This is an ethos that is an integral part of who we are today. 

 

As the business embarked upon its 70th year in the industry, McKeon Group wanted to do something special to mark the achievement. The siblings behind this family-owned business know that – despite being a nationwide operation today – success for a third generation business is not possible without strong community support and loyalty. As an integral part of the success story that is McKeon Group, the local community in Ashbourne was always going to be a big part of celebrating its 70th year as part of the local business community.  

 

And so, in the spirit of giving back to a community that has given us so much over the generations, McKeon Group, in association with Ashbourne & District Lions Club, is proud to launch Ashbourne Heroes, a community-based initiative to recognise and reward the everyday local heroes. These are people within our community who were outstanding in their generosity of kindness, spirit, time and self. 

 

2020 has been a tough year for many people; the Covid-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on our lives and on the world in which we live. As Ireland, like much of the world, gets to grips with living alongside the virus, now feels like the right time to publicly thank our friends, family, neighbours and wider community for going that extra mile to be helpful and kind. 

 

But we need your help…

 

We are asking everyone in Ashbourne to get involved! If you know someone who regularly goes out of their way to help another person in need, nominate them.

 

If you feel that there is someone special who ought to be rewarded for their generosity of spirit and for being an Ashbourne community hero, log onto AshbourneHeroes.ie and get nominating.

 

There are many great prizes to be won, with the top prize being a hotel stay in Ireland to the value of €1,500. Who in your life deserves a break?

 

 

About McKeon Group:

Established in 1950, this year marks the 70th anniversary of McKeon Group, which remains a family business. ISO certified for more than two decades, McKeon Group offers expert construction, fitout and building services. The Group delivers projects, services and maintenance across a range of sectors for State, local authority, FDI and private clients. For more information, contact: www.mckeon.ie

McKeon Group: Building Management Systems (BMS) Controls Training

 

As part of McKeon Group’s commitment to staff training and upskilling, we have partnered with TechCon International Ltd., a specialist controls supplier, to provide BMS training for our electrical and mechanical teams.  BMS or Building Management Systems are the technologies that bring a building to life and enhance the experience and comfort for the occupants.  

 

Traditionally controlling HVAC systems (Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning), BMS can also control a multitude of other systems such as Lighting, Fire Alarm, Energy Management, Space analytics etc.  Central control over the various systems in a building enhances the comfort level, provides efficiencies and energy savings and can monitor overall building performance, as we strive to attain ever greater efficiencies and less dependence on fossil fuels in the move towards a carbon neutral environment. 

 

This training is fundamental for our M&E teams to understand each other’s disciplines and also that of the specialist controls supplier, which is typically provided by an external specialist. We aim to have a knowledge base within our M&E teams that will allow us to fully meet our client’s building management needs and with the help of our BMS partners further enhance the service that we bring to our clients.

 

For further information, please contact Stephen Weir, Electrical Services Director with McKeon Group at www.mckeon.ie

 

 

About McKeon Group:

Established in 1950, this year marks the 70th anniversary of McKeon Group, which remains a family business. ISO certified for more than two decades, McKeon Group offers expert construction, fitout and building services. The Group delivers projects, services and maintenance across a range of sectors for State, local authority, FDI and private clients. For more information, contact: www.mckeon.ie

 

McKeon Group Innovation Partner Fergal Brophy on South East Radio

 

Earlier this week innovation consultant Fergal Brophy, who works closely with McKeon Group, joined Karl Fitzpatrick on South East Radio to talk about the importance of innovation and how “repurposing” a business can create new revenue streams. 

 

 

McKeon Group’s new CPD offering, Innovate Together, was developed by the McKeon team and Hereworks, working closely with Fergal Brophy, who is an Entrepreneurial Specialist at UCD Innovation Academy. Fergal also lectures on Innovation Principles & Applications at the Institute of Public Administration (IPA) and is lead facilitator for the Innovation Pillar on Enterprise Ireland’s Go Global 4 Growth programme.

 

The Innovate Together problem-solving collaborative sessions enable participants to apply key creativity and innovation concepts to real world engineering problems and opportunities. Delivered online or in-person, each CPD offered is tailored to a specific audience and based around key themes, agreed upon in advance. These sessions demonstrate the use of Design Thinking, Lean Startup and Business Model Innovation to frame a specific problem or opportunity and to open participants up to new ways of collaborating to co-create innovative solutions. 

 

While the Innovate Together session has been certified for CPD points by Engineers Ireland, it is not exclusively for engineers. In fact, as a new approach to problem-solving, Design Thinking is not industry specific. It can be tailored to any organisation, within any sector or industry and there can be different themes. 

 

*You can find out more about ‘Innovate Together’ and contact the McKeon Group team here: https://mckeon.ie/new-cpd-innovate-together/ 

 

About McKeon Group

Established in 1950, this year marks the 70th anniversary of McKeon Group, which remains a family business. ISO certified for more than two decades, McKeon Group offers expert construction, fitout and building services. The Group delivers projects, services and maintenance across a range of sectors for State, local authority, FDI and private clients. McKeon.ie 

 

IoT Solutions for HVAC Systems

The value in inter-connectivity between once stand-alone equipment cannot be understated, and the industry is heading in the right direction in this regard with HVAC IoT devices, towards the concept of smart buildings.” ~ Muhammad Abdullah Hashmi

 

Earlier this month we wrote about ‘Heating, Ventilation & Air-Conditioning Systems in the Context of COVID-19’, this topic has become increasingly relevant as design and build teams scramble to review and make changes to existing project plans. You can catch up on the article in full here: https://mckeon.ie/mckeon-group-heating-ventilation-air-conditioning-systems-in-the-context-of-covid-19/

 

While researching this trend internationally, we came across an article by Muhammad Abdullah Hashmi on ‘IoT Solutions for HVAC’. This is quite a future-looking piece and definitely worth reading in full:  https://www.iotforall.com/hvac-iot-solutions/

 

Most industry operators will be aware of HVAC enhancements over the past number of years that have been made possible through IoT, or the Internet of Things – which is simply a term used to describe the internet connectivity of a network of sensors and devices. IoT has become the generational equivalent of electricity insofar as it has become ubiquitous and consumers use it without understanding it or even be aware of the use in some cases.  

 

There are many benefits for both consumers and manufacturers, including increased control and reduced consumption. In the above article, the author gives an example that most consumers will be familiar with, controlling central heating or air conditioning remotely from a mobile device.   

 

For a commercial building operator, this convenience and flexibility is a secondary benefit. The data and insights from that data can be used to reduce consumption, which reduces costs and the overall carbon footprint of the building or development. 

 

Innovations in HVAC technology have grown in line with other forms of proptech and contech, which are simply the latest buzzwords to categorise tech innovations for the built environment. 

 

In his article above, Muhammad Abdullah Hashmi identifies three key ways that IoT is transforming HVAC systems: 

 

(1)  Real-Time Data Management & Diagnostics

(2)  Energy Savings

(3)  Cross Functionality 

 

As indicated above, the collation and management of data in real time has been a game-changer for HVAC systems, giving manufacturers and building operators access to operational information that was not previously available, between connected equipment that was once stand-alone. 

 

The author points out that: 

 

“Controllers being used for commercial applications of HVAC are becoming increasingly powerful by the day. More complex algorithms, analytical capabilities, and data communication protocols are increasing the commercial HVAC market, and with it, bring the need for a more robust IoT network to facilitate this data sharing. Apart from the obvious effects of energy savings, comfort, and convenience for the consumer, OEM’s stand to benefit from the greater insights and improved building designs, equipment manufacturing, and demand forecasting.” 

 

When contemplating the future of HVAC, the author credits IoT as being a major driver of innovations that deliver energy savings, increased comfort, demand forecasting, predictive maintenance and so much more. As IoT for HVAC systems evolves from novelty to necessity, he predicts that data analytics and machine learning will be the next transformative step for IoT in HVAC systems. 

 

About McKeon Group:

Established in 1950, this year marks the 70th anniversary of McKeon Group, which remains a family business. ISO certified for more than two decades, McKeon Group offers expert construction, fitout and building services. The Group delivers projects, services and maintenance across a range of sectors for State, local authority, FDI and private clients. For more information, contact: www.mckeon.ie

 

Project Update: DCU Lonsdale Science Building

Since the industry re-opened non-essential construction sites and resumed projects back in mid-May, there has certainly been a period of adjusting to the new pandemic-responsive safety measures on site. The McKeon Group site teams were aided by the in-house development of the Good2Go compliance app, which is now available to the wider industry for use. You can find out more here: https://mckeon.ie/about-us/good2go-app/ 

 

Over the past two months, the electrical division has commenced three relatively large projects, each of which offer an exciting challenge for our team of engineers, contracts managers and electricians. Full consideration has been given to ensure full life cycle selection of all luminaires and electrical accessories for each project.  

 

These projects are as follows: 

 

~ Full strip out and Cat. B fit out of Office and teaching space alongside our Mechanical Team in DCU

~ Retrofitting of over 2,500 LED Luminaires to DCU Science Building thus further reducing their energy use

~ Fire alarm and Emergency Lighting upgrade to Primary School in Dublin 7

 

We look forward to delivering each of these projects to the same high standards that our existing clients have come to expect from McKeon Group. 

 

Project Update: DCU Lonsdale Science Building

 

The DCU Lonsdale lighting is an energy upgrade, which is particularly relevant for all buildings right now as we prepare for a return to schools, colleges and workplaces. Our work here involves retrofitting over 2,500 LED Luminaires within the DCU Science Building in order to reduce the overall energy use.  Of course, there are many other benefits, some of which can be seen in the ‘before’ and ‘after’ images below. 

This work is being carried out under the SEAI Better Energy Grant scheme. Working closely alongside the client and design team, material procurement was given the due consideration it requires ensuring high quality equipment  meeting within budget has been selected going beyond the industry standard to ensure consideration for full life cycle. 

 

This project is one of many that have been conducted across DCU Campuses furthering their energy reduction initiative. McKeon Group is delighted to have been chosen once again by DCU to complete these works to the high standard that we offer time and time again.

 

About McKeon Group:

Established in 1950, this year marks the 70th anniversary of McKeon Group, which remains a family business. ISO certified for more than two decades, McKeon Group offers expert construction, fitout and building services. The Group delivers projects, services and maintenance across a range of sectors for State, local authority, FDI and private clients. For more information, contact: www.mckeon.ie

 

McKeon Group: Heating, Ventilation & Air-Conditioning Systems in the Context of COVID-19

Earlier this summer the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) published its guidance document on the ventilation of indoor spaces: ‘Heating, Ventilation & Air-Conditioning Systems in the Context of COVID-19’ https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/Ventilation-in-the-context-of-COVID-19.pdf

 

This guidance is designed to assist public health authorities in EU/EEA countries and in the UK to navigate their ongoing pandemic responses. It is unsurprising that an evidence-based study into the transmission of the virus within closed spaces was prioritised by the ECDC and it was inevitable that this would focus on the role of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems.

 

As most people will be aware, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems are used to provide and regulate consistently comfortable environmental conditions, such as temperature and humidity. It ensures that the air circulating inside the space is clean and of a good quality. At its simplest, ventilation systems provide clean air by exchanging and filtering indoor and outdoor air. Contemporary air-conditioning systems are generally part of integrated HVAC systems, unlike the more traditional or dated stand-alone air-conditioning units in older domestic settings that people might be familiar with.

 

Poor indoor ventilation has long been linked with increased transmission of a range of infections, including respiratory infections. Already, there have been numerous COVID-19 transmission events linked to enclosed spaces (including pre-symptomatic cases). Notwithstanding this, the role of ventilation in preventing COVID-19 transmission is not well-defined. While the guidance document lists incidents of indoor and outdoor transmission, outdoor transmissions are significantly fewer, and the authors acknowledge that the length of time people are in close physical contact played the most important role in spreading COVID-19.


The guidance document cites several studies that have addressed the role of ventilation in COVID-19 outbreaks, “three outbreaks involved an index case that was reported to be pre-symptomatic, and ventilation in an enclosed space, aided by air conditioning”. Also, “the authors of a pre-print manuscript describing two other outbreaks from China in January 2020 attribute air conditioning systems using a re-circulating mode as a probable aid to transmission”.

 

According to the guidance document, High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters have demonstrated good performance with particles of the SARS- Cov-2 virus size (approximately 70−120 nm). Significantly, there is currently no evidence to date of “human infection with SARS-CoV-2 caused by infectious aerosols distributed through the ventilation system ducts of HVACs”. The document concludes that:

 

~ Well-maintained HVAC systems, including air-conditioning units, securely filter large droplets containing SARS-CoV-2. 

~ It is possible for COVID-19 aerosols (small droplets and droplet nuclei) to spread through HVAC systems within a building and stand-alone air-conditioning units if air is recirculated.

~ Air flow generated by air-conditioning units may facilitate the spread of droplets excreted by infected people longer distances within indoor spaces.

~ HVAC systems may have a complementary role in decreasing transmission in indoor spaces by increasing the rate of air change, decreasing recirculation of air and increasing the use of outdoor air.

 

For anyone with an interest in learning more about this, it is definitely worth reading the ECDC guidance document in full. 

 

Download the PDF document ‘Heating, Ventilation & Air-Conditioning Systems in the Context of COVID-19’  in full here: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/Ventilation-in-the-context-of-COVID-19.pdf

 

About McKeon Group:

Established in 1950, this year marks the 70th anniversary of McKeon Group, which remains a family business. ISO certified for more than two decades, McKeon Group offers expert construction, fitout and building services. The Group delivers projects, services and maintenance across a range of sectors for State, local authority, FDI and private clients. For more information, contact: www.mckeon.ie

 

 

McKeon Group