Enhancing Indoor Air Quality by Minimizing Environmental Contaminants from Entering Buildings Through Open Doors

While most people think of air quality being affected by outside factors, few think of the status of air quality indoors. But the reality is that certain indoor pollutants tend to be two to five times higher than those outside. Common indoor pollution sources include mold, pet dander, and particulate matter. Indoor pollution can worsen when there are natural disasters outside. Wildfires raging in Quebec, Canada that started in April of 2023 caused New York City’s air quality to skyrocket to one of the worst in the world.

To protect your employees’ health, you need to monitor, and if necessary, enhance the indoor air quality of your workplace. The easiest and most cost effective approach in doing so is to install air curtains over your building’s entry doors.

Understanding Airborne Contaminants

Airborne contaminants come from many items commonly found inside your building. Any fuel-burning appliance such as a building’s furnace or heater will give off irritants like smoke, particulate matter, or gas. Additionally, anyone who smokes may bring in particulate matter with them, or inhalation irritants could blow in if a smoker stands near an open door.

Even our furry friends can cause irritation and discomfort, affecting commercial indoor air quality. If you have a dog-friendly office, then their dander will linger, even long after the dogs have left. Pet dander has a jagged shape, so it will stick to couches or hang in the air longer than other types of pollutants.

The Function of Air Curtains

One of the best ways to improve commercial indoor air quality is to install air curtains.

Every time you open the door to the office, irritants like dust, insects, or particulate matter can be blown inside. Once the door is closed again, they become trapped. So whenever someone props the door open while carrying supplies in and out, or when a massive hangar opens for a semi-truck to unload, this drastically can reduce the quality of air indoors.

An air curtain protects the air quality inside, by shooting a stream of air straight down over the opening of the door. Just like how a regular curtain blocks sunlight from entering a room, an air curtain blocks irritating debris from entering your workspace.

While an air curtain is not a physical barrier, the air curtain’s generated air stream creates a solid separation between indoor and outdoor environments. The speed and volume of the air curtain’s air flow is dependent on how large the opening is. An air curtain for a small entry door will be much less powerful than one for a large manufacturing loading dock door.

Additional Benefits of Air Curtains

Air curtains aren’t just for commercial indoor air quality. If you live in an area with high summer temperatures like Southern California, you may be pulling your hair out at the high energy bills.

Quality engineered air curtains are a great first step at minimizing the air exchange between the inside air of a building, and the outside air environment when the building’s doors are opened. An air curtain can help you save money on your building’s heating and cooling bills by keeping the cold air in and hot air out during the summer, and the opposite during the winter. Your workplace will stay at a more consistent and comfortable temperature, and the load on your HVAC system will be significantly reduced, increasing the lifespan of the system. You can calculate how much this could save on your building’s utility costs by using Mars Air’s ROI calculator.

Air curtains also play a key role in protecting our planet. One of the best ways you can fight climate change is to reduce the energy consumption to heat and cool your building. When you use less energy for building heating and cooling, you’re cutting down on carbon emissions and working toward a healthier planet while simultaneously saving on operating costs.

Improve Employee Health With Indoor Air Curtains

Help your employees feel more comfortable at work with air curtains for indoor air quality. These air curtains will help your team breathe easier, keep pesky irritants out, and ensure the temperature inside stays comfortable for hours on end.

To learn more about how to choose the right indoor air curtains for your workplace, contact a sales rep at Mars Air today.