Ventilation

[lauradi rcn com]

     Earlier in the year, we had a lot of discussions about ventilation.  
On the latest Central Council Covid guidance page, there is this report of 
a forthcoming experiment 
>>The use of CO2 meters as a means of measuring the effectiveness of 
>>ventilation came from studies summarised in a recent review from the 
>>Royal Society. Indeed CO2 measurement is the industry standard used to 
>>demonstrate effectiveness of commercial ventilation systems. In an 
>>enclosed space like a ringing chamber, our breathing causes CO2 levels 
>>to increase. Ventilation brings in fresh air and the CO2 level drops. A 
>>CO2 meter is a pretty good proxy for the adequacy of ventilation, which 
>>in turn will help us estimate if ringing for longer than 15 minutes is 
>>safe (because Covid infected aerosols don’t build up). If the CO2 level 
>>in the room does not increase, it is likely that the ventilation is 
>>good, and we can ring for longer.

Phil Barnes and David Pouncey have both bought a particular kind of CO2 
meter from Canada which can be connected to a laptop and display the 
change in CO2 levels over time. In the Isle of Wight trial, a couple of 
bands of relatives will ring for 30 minutes in towers with a broad range 
of ventilation characteristics and measure how the CO2 levels change. This 
will then be used to give much better guidance on what other towers need 
to do to improve ventilation. By the time other regions drop into Tier 1 
we hope that this work done by the Isle of Wight and Cornish ringers will 
enable us to move straight to ringing for longer in towers where the 
characteristics show that aerosol transmission risk is low.<<