Positive Results using Negative Pressure

ROOM PERFORMANCE
ISOL-AIDE mail processing isolation rooms are designed using performance criteria typical of that used to isolate airborne pathogens in a health care facility. The rooms maintain negative air pressure relative to the ambient environment, which creates inward, directional airflow. Because air is always being pulled into the room, potentially harmful, aerosolized particles that might be released during the mail handling process can't float to areas outside the room. When located away from the main office in a plant or warehouse and equipped with their own heating and cooling units, ISOL-AIDE rooms isolate the mail process from your building’s central HVAC duct system.

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN
The rooms are constructed using the A-WALL 300, vinyl or FRP finished wall system manufactured by our A-WALL Building System Division. All room components are pre-engineered for ease of assembly and marked to match comprehensive installation drawings. The ceiling consists of gasketed, vinyl or FRP clad gypsum tiles, suspended in a commercial, steel grid below a self-spanning roof system. Durable, steel doors are equipped with seals and closers. Floor tracks are caulked. Windows are sealed in the frames and factory installed in the panels. The result is a well sealed “envelope” using practical, cost-effective methods to better control the volume and direction of air flowing into the room.

The electrical components are factory prepared with Flex-4 modular wiring connectors. Switches and receptacles are factory wired and gasketed into the wall panels for ease of installation, or room relocation at a later date. An electrician is only required on-site to wire and power the breaker panel. Factory installed boxes with pull wires are also available for on-site communication and data wiring.

Commercial Ventilation/Filtration Unit shown with optional Acrylic Capture Chamber

HEATING, COOLING AND FILTRATION SYSTEM
Heating and cooling is maintained using a conventional “through-the-wall” HVAC unit which recirculates conditioned air within the room. It does not exhaust or supply room air. The ISOL-AIDE CVFU (Commercial Ventilation/ Filtration Unit) filters and exhausts air safely out of the room. This exhaust creates the negative, relative air pressure and proper directional airflow. The CVFU operates normally at a low volume of exhaust needed to maintain negative room pressure when doors are closed. However, when doors are opened, a patented, automatic fan speed control compensates for pressure loss by significantly increasing the fan speed. If this higher rate of fan speed were constantly maintained, the HVAC unit would be unable to adequately provide heating or cooling. Room make-up air is pulled at a high velocity through an intentional gap below the door.

Like the ISOL-AIDE VFU chosen for more than 500 health care settings nationwide, the CVFU is equipped with a medium efficiency prefilter and an ULPA grade HEPA filter which is 99.9995% efficient for particles .12 micron and larger. ULPA filtration captures particles 1/2 the size and at an efficiency rate 10 times greater than standard HEPA filters. Published results of testing done at the LSU School of Medicine demonstrates that the ISOL-AIDE filtration system is capable of clearing bacterial aerosols from exhausted, isolation room air and the patented fan speed control can maintain negative room pressure when doors are opened.
(See ISOL-AIDE "Safety and Efficacy" page for more information)