Abstract
Existing evidence strongly suggests that viral infectious diseases can be transmitted via an airborne route across distances in indoor environments. Accordingly, the risk of airborne transmission within homes should be managed. The public health emergency associated with SARS-CoV-2 makes controlling airborne transmission of respired viruses in indoor environments critical, especially in poorly ventilated indoor environments. The effectiveness of engineering interventions requiring minor efforts that create a negative-pressure isolation zone (IZ) for a contagious person has yet to be tested for existing residential homes. To mitigate the risk of airborne virus transmission and maximize health protection for the population in existing single-family homes, the relative effectiveness of several control strategies are investigated in this report. While very high-efficiency MERV filtration, high ventilation rates, and other controls can help be effective, most occupants are not likely to have the time or means for advanced measures found in hospitals. This project focused on testing relatively simple efforts that utilize existing or easy to acquire materials and simple processes.
Original language | American English |
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Number of pages | 38 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2021 |
NREL Publication Number
- NREL/TP-5500-79516
Other Report Number
- DOE/GO-102021-5536
Keywords
- buildings
- infection control
- isolation space
- residential
- SARS CoV-2 (COVID-19)
- ventilation