THE HVAC PLAYBOOK for COVID-19 Operations

​Being mindful of the challenges COVID-19 presents in indoor spaces, we put together our own HVAC playbook for ML Work Orders based on prevailing guidance and recommendations. This playbook provides step by step instructions on how to set up work orders, PM’s, and inventory procedures to align with the new HVAC recommendations for school districts.

Because COVID-19 is a virus that spreads primarily through the air, facility managers need to be strategic with their HVAC systems to help mitigate the spread of the virus. In this playbook, we will review 4 core areas to HVAC maintenance in a COVID-19 environment and the way we would recommend setting up ML Work Orders to carry out the recommendations.
Those core four areas are:

• Increased ventilation.  The more fresh air you can get in your system, the greater you can dilute the source of COVID-19. To increase fresh air circulation, you will need to open your makeup air units
  - outdoor vents and dampers. We walk through the work orders and procedures you can set up in ML Work Orders to increase ventilation, track your costs, and proactively check your coils in the winter to prevent freezing.
• Air filtration. Upgrading your HVAC filtration is a baseline activity that’s simple and effective to step up your protection during the pandemic. There are a variety of filter options depending on budget. A standard filter upgrade would consist of going to all air filters that have a MERV 13 rating. We show you how you would set up work orders to replace your filter and set a recurring schedule to replace the filters.
• Humidity Adjustments. Adjusting the humidity in your building will have an effect on the “staying power” of particles in the air. A higher humidity setting will add more moisture to the air, which will cause particles to fall to the ground faster. Suggested humidity settings fall within the range of 40 – 60%. We show you how to set up a work order to adjust your humidity settings and set up alerts in your building automation system and schedule a recurring check on your water filters and panels.
• Demand Control. Demand control ventilation is a good strategy to help control costs, while maximizing fresh air intake at different points in the day based on new building schedules. Hone in on times
  that you can purge the air inside with fresh air. We show you how to build work orders to adjust control settings and set up a new COVID-19 Operations control setting.​

To learn more about the recommendations and how to carry them out using ML Work Orders, click below.

Download the playbook