Air Cleaning in Health and Fitness Facilities

If you run a gym, health spa, sports club, or other fitness-based organization, you're all about helping people get and stay healthy. So the last thing you want is Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) or other viruses or bacteria spreading through your building and causing illness. You also want your building to smell fresh and clean, and probably need to keep the air cool so guests don't become overheated when exercising. All of these things cost money and cut into your bottom line. What if there was a way to eliminate airborne pathogens and allergens, while simultaneously lowering your energy costs for heating/cooling, and improving indoor air quality?

The Varionix system uses bipolar ionization to clean and purify indoor air. These positive and negative ions attach to pathogens like viruses and bacteria (including SARS-CoV-2), destroying the pathogen's surface. When this happens, a virus like Covid-19 can no longer reproduce, or infect a person, even when inhaled. Bacteria also can't form colonies on commonly-touched surfaces.

This same system that protects the air from viruses and bacteria also destroys airborne allergens like dust and mold, reduces odors in locker rooms and training areas, and reduces energy costs for heating and cooling by drastically lowering the amount of outdoor air needed. On average, buildings that use the Varionix system see a 50% reduction in heating and cooling costs, while achieving the environmental benefits of lowering energy usage. 

Coronavirus Concerns

While health authorities are still still trying to understand all possible ways for Covid-19 to propagate, it's believed to spread predominantly from person-to-person, between people who are in close contact/proximity with one another (within about 6 feet), or via respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes. (CDC) It may also spread through aerosols, or particles that can linger in the air for several hours. Typical air handling systems are not designed to eliminate all these particles.

A person can also get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has come into contact, then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes, although this is not thought to be the main way this virus spreads. (CDC)

Now, imagine such an infectious virus inside a building like your gym or fitness facility, perhaps because infected respiratory droplets entered the air and traveled inside the HVAC system ducts, as a result of sneezing, coughing, or touching surfaces within a structure. It could even happen as people exercise and breathe faster. When these infected droplets are deposited on various surfaces, including doorknobs, treadmills, and exercise machines, everyone is susceptible to the virus. If the pathogen is also floating through the air, there is another source of infection.

How can you avoid or alleviate the contamination of your buildings? Advanced air purification solutions are vital. Varionix systems from Airionex, when installed in the existing HVAC systems of buildings or as a standalone unit, actively and efficiently eliminate microbes and viruses from the passing air. In this way, they remove the risk of HVAC systems contaminating entire buildings by delivering and depositing infected particles. The continuous application of bipolar ions emitted to ambient air is the most effective air purifying technology for decontaminating indoor air.