Indoor Air Quality

Air quality is greatly affected by daily and seasonal environmental changes. It is not uncommon to see frequent alerts provided by the National Weather Service reporting elevated pollen, mildew, mold and other allergen and air contaminants that may be problematic for people with heightened sensitivities to changes in air quality.

The Department of Student Housing follows these steps to provide quality, indoor air:

•  Follows recommendations and guidelines of APPA—Leadership in Educational Facilities and ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers).
•  Air handling coils are cleaned and disinfected twice annually.
•  Air Handler Units (AHUs) have needlepoint bipolar ionization which sanitizes air passing through air handling units.
•  Air filters are changed every thirty days.
•  An air filter’s minimum efficiency reporting value (MERV) rating measures how effectively the filter stops dust and other contaminants from passing through the filter and into the air stream. Filters with higher MERV ratings trap small particles more effectively than filters with lower MERV ratings. Air filters used have a high MERV rating for finer filtration of all air-borne particles.
• Indoor relative humidity is maintained at below 60 percent.

We recommend students observe the following recommendations:

• Keep windows closed, which allows HVAC units to maintain proper humidity levels.
•  Do not attempt to control temperature by blocking the air supply in your room (i.e., placing an air filter over the supply grill.) This prohibits proper air flow that could affect the operation of the HVAC system.
• Please report any concerns or issues to your front desk.