STOCKHOLM, Sweden, 20 January 2022: Air filter manufacturer Camfil has welcomed the fourth edition of the Recommendation 4/23, which aligns with the 2021 World Health Organisation’s (WHO) global air quality guidelines, where the levels at which the main air pollutants are deemed harmful have been lowered, compared to the former WHO guideline from 2005.

The main purpose of the Eurovent Recommendation is to increase awareness and provide a comprehensive guidance from the previous update, on the selection of EN ISO 16890-rated filters in general ventilation applications depending on the local outdoor air quality, Camfil said through a Press release.

With people spending on average up to 90% of their life indoors, at home or in offices, schools, restaurants, shopping malls or cinemas combined with the continued global pandemic and outdoor air pollution, high quality indoor air is today a central focus for people in the workplace, schools and public buildings, Camfil said. It is a scientific fact that particulate matter (PM) concentrations from airborne pollutants affects more people than any other pollutant and is associated to severe diseases such as asthma, allergy, lung cancer, cardiovascular and others, Camfil said.

This combined burden of associated disease and human health protection has led to higher filtration demands for most of Europe, Camfil pointed out. Required knowledge and insights are needed for government, industry and business, and Recommendation 4/23 provides these, as it is addressed to all HVAC professionals dealing with ventilation systems, particularly designers, facility managers and manufacturers of equipment incorporating air filters, Camfil said.

“This Recommendation of air filter classes, depending both on the local outdoor air quality as well as on the specific application, provides key insights for many industries and our customers seeking to address indoor air quality for the health and wellbeing of people as well as reduce energy consumption of air filters in general ventilation systems, alongside lowering CO₂ emissions,” said Tobias Zimmer, VP, Global Product Management and International Standards, Camfil. “With those updated recommendations in line with the latest WHO air quality guidelines, we can assist industries to address challenges in protection of people, indoor air quality as well as energy consumption.”

The contribution of the Eurovent Recommendation 4/23, Camfil said, is that it merges theoretical and practical aspects of designing Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) in terms of air filtration in spaces served by mechanical ventilation systems, and it provides hands-on and effective advice for HVAC planners and manufactures of ventilation equipment to correctly design filtration.