Heightened hygiene standards to prepare for school re-opening in 2021

• First education institution in Malaysia to install Upper Air UVGI disinfection to keep indoor air safe
• 35 units of these revolutionary air sterilizers installed, and works in tandem with split unit air conditioners
• Active indoor air management is becoming a new norm as business capacity returns

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - Media OutReach^[1] - 22 December 2020 - Schools have been deeply impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and virtual classrooms have taken over physical ones. Whilst school premises remain empty for most of 2020, classes have been conducted in the digital environment, leaving many parents distraught over the challenge of lower engagement and increased distractions as compared to physical classrooms environments, a format which still yields superior results and deeper learning by students, according to assistant to MD of Tree Top International School^[2], Ms Loh Lin Khuan.

"We wanted to regain a safe indoor environment so that students could be physically present and focus better in an experiential learning environment. The online learning environment made it harder to develop inter-personal communication skills and also requires alot of self-discipline from the student. So it was critical for us to find a solution to keep the indoor spaces in Tree Top at its safest level so as to reduce the level of anxiety everyone experienced for the better part of 2020" said Ms Loh

Like many other educational institutions, Tree Top International School uses split unit air-conditioning systems and the challenge to sanitise over 350,000 cubic feet of indoor air proved to be a huge challenge. Most of these systems do not allow for ventilation.

Ms Loh further added: "We have made efforts to sanitise surfaces but realised there was no systematic way to sanitise large volumes of air without investing in intrusive air ducts and cumbersome ventilation blowers and filters. At the end of the day, students still want a quiet, cool learning environment which meant that air conditioners had to be kept running with the windows and doors shut to prevent heat, noise and dust from entering the premises. This put us in a difficult balance between the need for a comfortable indoor environment and biologically clean air"

 "As scientists started to uncover more evidence of airborne transmission of Covid-19 and international guidelines were surfacing on how to prepare school premises for safe indoor environment, we knew we had to find an effective solution to achieve safe indoor air fast and economically. 

This classroom in Treetop International school features an Upper Air UVC luminaire designed and supplied by TheUVC.co

At the end of the day, the Tree Top International School management decided to proceed with the Upper Air UVC units, supplied by TheUVC.co, featuring a unique design that sanitises incoming air with a UVC lamp and a photocatalytic air filter as it enters the split unit air conditioner.

"When we were first introduced to the idea of this UV attachment, we were sceptical how a simple UV light can purify the air, but after some research, we discovered it has been used successfully for over 70 years to fight Tuberculosis and Measles, both contagious airborne diseases. We realised It is indeed a very efficient way to biologically clean the indoor air, not much different from how our sun sanitises the outdoor air."

With this new air disinfection system in place, perhaps there is fresh hope for a new normality for the students and teachers at Tree Top International School as they return to their learning environment with the help of these novel air sterilizers come January 2021.

References

1. ^{^} Media OutReach (www.media-outreach.com)
2. ^{^} Tree Top International School (www.treetop.edu.my)