Bacterial and fungal ecology on air conditioning cooling coils is influenced by climate and building factors
| Autor: | Jordan Peccia, Linsey C. Marr, Jeffrey A. Siegel, Alexa Bakker, Mark J. Mendell, Aaron J. Prussin |
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| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
Environmental Engineering
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences Climate Air Microbiology 010501 environmental sciences 01 natural sciences Minimum efficiency reporting value Microbial ecology Air Conditioning Heat transfer efficiency 0105 earth and related environmental sciences Air filter Moisture Ecology business.industry Fungal ecology Microbiota Public Health Environmental and Occupational Health Environmental engineering Fungi Building and Construction Dew point Air conditioning Air Pollution Indoor Environmental science business Environmental Monitoring |
| Zdroj: | Indoor airREFERENCES. 30(2) |
| ISSN: | 1600-0668 |
| Popis: | The presence of biofilms on the cooling coils of commercial air conditioning (AC) units can significantly reduce the heat transfer efficiency of the coils and may lead to the aerosolization of microbes into occupied spaces of a building. We investigated how climate and AC operation influence the ecology of microbial communities on AC coils. Forty large-scale commercial ACs were considered with representation from warm-humid and hot-dry climates. Both bacterial and fungal ecologies, including richness and taxa, on the cooling coil surfaces were significantly impacted by outdoor climate, through differences in dew point that result in increased moisture (condensate) on coils, and by the minimum efficiency reporting value (MERV 8 vs MERV 14) of building air filters. Based on targeted qPCR and sequence analysis, low efficiency upstream filters (MERV 8) were associated with a greater abundance of pathogenic bacteria and medically relevant fungi. As the implementation of air conditioning continues to grow worldwide, better understanding of the factors impacting microbial growth and ecology on cooling coils should enable more rational approaches for biofilm control and ultimately result in reduced energy consumption and healthier buildings. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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