Approaches for Effective Isolation Space Control to Minimize Airborne Transmission of Contaminants in Residential Homes

Webinar
August 21, 2021

Approaches for Effective Isolation Space Control to Minimize Airborne Transmission of Contaminants in Residential Homes

If someone in your household gets COVID-19 or another airborne disease, how can you prevent it from spreading to others in your home? This question is the basis of a recently completed research project at the FSEC Energy Research Center, a research institute at the University of Central Florida. The U.S. Department of Energy provided the funding for the study, while the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) provided oversight.

Using a full-scale laboratory home, UCF researchers evaluated methods to create an isolation zone in a single-family home where an infected person could remain separated from the rest of the occupants. The researchers found that a basic isolation zone for a contagious person could be created with little cost and effort.

In this webinar, the researchers will present their findings and will discuss several low-cost, easy-to-implement control strategies to potentially mitigate transmission of infectious aerosols in a single-family house.

Learning objectives:
1. Describe characteristics of an isolation zone in terms of pressure differences.
2. Describe low-cost interventions to create a difference in pressure between an isolation zone and a main zone.
3. Describe how airborne infectious disease particles are simulated.
4. Be able to implement effective control strategies using easily accessible and low-cost materials, and simple processes.