Introduction
It felt great to be back for our third in-person conference in a row, with a Technical Seminar back in full force and near-record attendance.
Louisville hit the mark with a mix of Southern amenities and air filtration centric sessions, TECH2022 hit a home run in the hometown of filtration and the Louisville Slugger.
The program
Roberta MacGillivray, CAFS, NCT, NAFA President & CEO of BGE Indoor Air Quality Solutions Ltd. welcomed members and guests to the 2022 Technical Seminar on Tuesday, April 5. The conference was held in Louisville, Kentucky, the Gateway to the South at the Louisville Marriott Downtown hotel.
Michael Corbat, CAFS, President-Elect and Seminar Chair of Rensa Filtration then took over the program. He thanked all the 2022 Sponsors (see page 9) and began the program and introductions.
Tuesday, April 5
Helping to Save the World from COVID-19: why an urban air pollution engineer got involved, and what she did to makes things better
Shelly Miller, PhD, Professor
University of Colorado Boulder
Keynote Speaker
Shelly L. Miller, Ph.D., is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering and faculty in the Environmental Engineering Program at the University of Colorado Boulder, holding an M.S. and Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from University of California, Berkeley and a B.S. in Applied Mathematics from Harvey Mudd College. Dr. Miller teaches about and investigates urban air quality and works diligently to understand the impact of air pollution on public health and the environment. She is also an expert on indoor environmental quality including airborne infectious disease transmission and control and air cleaning technologies.
As the COVID-19 pandemic moves across the world, scientists work around the clock to better understand how the SARS-CoV-2 virus is transmitted, the details of the symptoms and illness, and how to stop the spread of the virus. Engineers, such as Dr. Miller, have provided crucial information to the public and leaders that transmission happens when respiratory particles released while breathing, talking, singing, coughing and sneezing are inhaled and what to do about it. Dr. Miller highlighted the steps she took to make things better, including collaborating with a group of international scientists on COVID, understanding super spreading events and the Skagit Valley Chorale outbreak, documenting how musicians and performers release aerosol and how to these reduce emissions, she also discussed the benefits of ventilation, filtration and germicidal ultraviolet light.
What’s so Important About Cleaning the Air? A poolside chat with Bob Burkhead
Bob Burkhead, Owner
Blue Heaven Technologies
Moderated by: Tom Justice, CAFS, NCT, Owner, ZENE
Attendees enjoyed the friendly banter between Bob Burkhead and Tom Justice, CAFS, NCT. Bob runs a successful testing lab and shared some of his experiences as a key operator in indoor air quality and filtration.
He fielded several questions from audience members on the rigors of testing, filter efficiencies, and verifying results.
Supplier Panel
Moderated by
Jim Rosenthal, CAFS, NCT, CEO, TEX-AIR Filters/Air Relief Technologies
Panelists
Bob Wilson, CAFS, NCTII, President, BWG Filtration, Inc. (frames)
Timmy Timbs, CAFS, Sales Director, Wallner Expac (expanded metal)
Eric DeLong, Vice President,IFS Industries (glue)
Scott Tennison, Director of Innovation and Launch Management, Kimberly Clark Corporation (media)
Jim Rosenthal moderated a panel discussion of suppliers to the air filtration industry that included glue, expanded metal, media and frames.
The panelists reported on the current supply chain and pricing issues with metal, filter media, petrochemical, plastic and paper. There was some expected doom and gloom and some improvements in inventory and prices depending on the industry. Effects of overall inflation and how far we are into this critical situation were also discussed.
After sessions ended on the first day, attendees broke for lunch and all were welcomed & encouraged to attend a NAFA committee meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday (see insert on next page for updates).
Later that evening, an opening Welcome Reception and Sponsor Exhibit was held for all. Sponsors and attendees were able to mingle, and mix business with networking.
Wednesday, April 6
Upper-room, and In-duct UVGI as a Supplement to Ventilation and Filtration
Bill Palmer, CAFS, President
AeroMed Technologies, LLC
Bill Palmer is president of AeroMed Technologies, LLC which installs and services air purification equipment. His focus is on infection control engineering for health care and other facilities, where he applies air filtration to prevent the spread of airborne pathogens. Bill is a member of ASHRAE and of NAFA, serving on its guidelines committee. Bill has been in the air filtration industry since 1982 and was the Recipient of the 2011 Distinguished Service Award.
Much of the focus for reducing the risk of aerosol transmission in indoor spaces has been on increased ventilation or increased air filtration. However, every building is different and often additional layers of protection are required to fit the specific needs of the building or the building occupants. Bill shared experiences from his long career as a CAFS and as a Certified Environmental Infection Control Consultant and discussed how utilizing UVGI, whether in the air handlers, in duct work or in the upper-room, may compliment ventilation and air filtration while providing an extra layer of protection.
Recent Updates and Upgrades to ASHRAE SSPC 52.2
Todd McGrath, CAFS, Senior Engineer, Chair, ASHRAE Standard 52.2, Glasfloss Industries, Inc.
Todd as been at Glasfloss for over 22 years and supports product development and improvement, equipment enhancements and internal and external filter testing verification.
SSPC 52.2 has made many updates and upgrades over the last few years in order to improve the standard. Many of those updates are meant to increase the repeatability and reproducibility of intra- and inter-lab test results. Recent upgrades include an optional method to determine filter efficiency in removing or inactivating airborne viruses and bacteria. The addition of a Particulate Matter (PM) calculated filter efficiency by using current available data points from the 52.2 test. Todd summarized in detail all the updates and upgrades and touched on what is next for 52.2.
Low-cost Indoor Air Quality Sensors
Jordan D. Clark, PhD
The Ohio State University
Dr. Jordan Clark is a building scientist and Assistant Professor at the Ohio State University. Dr Clark’s research is concerned with reducing energy use and carbon emissions attributed to indoor environmental control. He is a recognized leader in the area of indoor air quality sensing and data-driven control of indoor environments.
As in many engineering problems, the control of our indoor environments is rapidly moving from a prescriptive, rule-of-thumb paradigm to a fully data-driven paradigm, enabled by the internet of things. The first step in such a shift is being able to generate data reliably and cheaply with low-cost sensing. Dr. Clark looked at several studies of the performance of low-cost airborne pollutant sensors and discussed their strengths and weaknesses and domain
of application.
NAFA Foundation – Bourbon Tour
In lieu of a golf tournament, the foundation officers opted for an event unique to Louisville, a private tour of Bardstown Bourbon Distillery. Guests were treated to cocktails, appetizers and lawn games after the tour. The event raised about $4,000 for the Foundation Scholarship fund.
Thursday, April 7
Leslye Sandberg presented with the 2022 Hall of Fame award
Before beginning the sessions for Thursday, President Roberta MacGillivray presented a special award to a retired NAFA member, Leslye Sandberg, CAFS.
In 2006, NAFA started the Hall of Fame to recognize outstanding individuals in the air filter industry. The NAFA Hall of Fame recognizes outstanding achievement in the air filter industry by NAFA members. These individuals will have contributed significantly to NAFA by way of their service and have a reputation in good standing among the membership.
Leslye has a lifelong commitment to the air filtration industry. As employee, then owner of Permatron Corporation, Leslye spent 34 years as an advocate for the benefits of indoor air quality locally and nationally. In her roll she developed products that would become beneficial to the entire industry, as an example, using the Prevent Screens. Leslye served as NAFA President for 2012-13, along with having earned her CAFS. After being president, Leslye continued to serve NAFA as an ambassador/advocate at ASHRAE committee meetings as well as serving on the committee that searched for the new association management group, contributing to the NAFA Guidelines Committee and reviewing and re-writing the NAFA Guide to Air Filtration and serving as the Committee Chairman to rewrite the Installation, Operation & Maintenance of Air Filtration Systems, 4th edition. Congratulations Leslye!
They Buy Your BECAUSE
Gerry O’Brion, Author, Branding Strategist and Franchise Expert
After years as an executive with billion-dollar brands, Gerry O’Brion is now a professional speaker and author. Gerry began his career in marketing at Procter & Gamble and then was an executive for well known brands such as Coors Light, Quiznos, and Red Robin.
Gerry helped attendees understand how customers make buying decisions and how a shift in strategy could differentiate their companies. He argues it’s not the why. It’s the because that influences people’s decisions.
Airplane Air Quality & Air Filtration
David Space, Retired, Formally with Boeing
David was lead engineer and Associate Technical Fellow in the Environmental Control Systems organization and was with Boeing for 33 years. He is the former chairman of the ASHRAE
TC 9.3 Transportation and the Aviation Research committees, vice-chair of SAE E31 Bleed Air Panel, member of ICAO 344 and SAE AC9M committees, and a founding member of ASHRAE air quality Standard 161P and EU AECMA-STAN air quality committees.
In the final session, attendees learned the history of air filtration on planes, and the details on the harshness of the flight and cabin environments and how air filtration and ventilation work on airplanes. David included detail on the spread of disease on aircraft, testing equipment, and air purification
NAFA Certification Testing
After studying the NAFA Guide to Air Filtration, listening to recordings made by NAFA volunteers and sitting with Jim Rosenthal, CAFS, NCT during the CAFS Exam Q & A Breakfast on Wednesday, 39 new CAFS and two new NCT individuals earned their certifications – Well Done! ?
To review slide presentations from the 2022 Technical Seminar, log into your account at the NAFA website: www.nafahq.org.