Caritas Eschweiler relies on IDEAL AP PRO air purifiers
In the media, the equipment of places and areas where many people regularly come together with air purifiers is currently being discussed more intensively. For Caritas Betriebs- und Werkstätten GmbH in Eschweiler, it was also a major concern – especially during the pandemic – to specifically protect the health of its employees and carers. For this reason, at the end of 2020 the eight workshops at six locations were equipped with a total of 126 air purifiers from the IDEAL brand. Managing Director Michael Doersch reports on the background and experiences.
In the Caritas Betriebs- und Werkstätten (CBW) of the cities in the Aachen region, 1,605 employees work – including 1,320 people with an intellectual or psychological disability – in more than 20 areas of work. These include, for example, a carpentry workshop, a laundry, a print shop and a turning shop. In addition, medical devices are manufactured in a clean room.
Managing Director Michael Doersch: “As a Caritas organisation, we feel a responsibility towards our employees to do everything within our means to reduce a possible viral load in our workshops and to protect our staff (with and without disabilities) as far as possible against potential infection. Unfortunately, the purchase of the air purifiers was not subsidised. Consequently, we financed the devices from our free reserves. We handled this air purifier order via the company Büro-Musterhaus Prickartz from Aachen. As a reliable supplier to CBW, the Prickartz team has supported us with advice and assistance for many years – and did so again in this case.”
Ideal air hygiene protects employees and carers
Especially in heavily frequented places, clean and purified indoor air is more important than ever. This is because infectious diseases often spread particularly quickly here. Even though distancing and other hygiene measures are observed at CBW with a high level of discipline, the air purifiers are intended to provide additional protection and ensure clean air. For this reason, the decision was made to purchase air purifiers from the IDEAL brand. From the comprehensive range of different air purifiers, the choice fell on five different models from the AP PRO series – all “Made in Germany”.
Michael Doersch: “We have equipped all rooms in which at least three employees work with IDEAL air purifiers. Depending on the room size, five different AP PRO model variants are now in use. Especially for our production areas, where up to forty people work, it was most important for us to achieve a good solution to protect our employees and carers. The only exception is our ISO Class 8 clean rooms, in which medical devices are manufactured. Appropriate systems are already permanently installed there.”
When people work together in such shared rooms, infectious aerosols are transmitted via the room air. IDEAL air purifiers counteract this by complementing and extending protective measures such as distancing, partition walls, surface disinfection and face masks. By circulating and cleaning the air several times per hour, they reduce the dwell time of pollutants such as viruses and bacteria and significantly reduce the amount of aerosols in the indoor air. “As operators of several clean rooms (including ISO 8), we know that suitable filter technology can reduce the viral load in rooms. We tested the air purifiers ourselves and found that the number of particles in the air (> 0.3 μm) can be reduced by almost 95% under the conditions prevailing at our facilities. The devices usually run for eight hours per day from Monday to Friday; in some rooms even up to twelve hours a day.”
Highly effective IDEAL filter technology ensures clean air
The 126 air purifiers in use at Caritas in Eschweiler – composed of the five high-performance models IDEAL AP30 PRO, IDEAL AP40 PRO, IDEAL AP60 PRO, IDEAL AP80 PRO and IDEAL AP140 PRO – guarantee efficient air purification. All devices are characterised by low noise emissions and low energy consumption and are equipped with a 5-stage filter technology. This reliably filters bacteria and viruses and significantly reduces their concentration. In addition, fine dust and chemicals as well as unpleasant odours are removed from the indoor air. The IDEAL AP PRO air purifiers also provide relief for allergy symptoms and ensure clean breathing air.
Michael Doersch: “To date, there has knowingly been no feedback regarding relief from allergy-related or other air-dependent health complaints among our employees and carers. However, the pollen season is only just about to begin. Here too, the high percentage of filtered indoor air can certainly provide relief.”
Once captured in the 360° smart filter, particles, pollutants and pathogens can no longer be released into the room air. Pathogens become inactive on the filter material after a short time (viruses) or die off (bacteria).
Professional and practical air purification guaranteed
In addition to their high-quality equipment and intuitive operation, the IDEAL AP PRO devices also impress with their quiet operation, making them unobtrusive and not a disruptive noise source during daily work processes. Michael Doersch agrees: “Above all, the simple operation of all five air purifier models impressed us. This is very important, as many different people operate the devices here. In our rooms, due to the large number of employees and the high frequency of ventilation through opening windows, there is a constant movement of air, resulting in continuous air mixing. If the air is then filtered, this, in our assessment, leads to an improvement in air quality and a significant reduction in potentially virus-laden particles in the breathing air. In this respect, we would choose the IDEAL AP PRO air purifiers again.”