Indoor air quality is definitely top of mind for a lot of people after the past few challenging months. The coronavirus has brought a renewed focus on the importance of IAQ in commercial and residential facilities, but it’s something that Modine has been serious about addressing through our commercial HVAC products for decades. 

Indoor air pollution can be a real problem for people, affecting the health and productivity of residents, workers and students. Poor air quality can also be a trigger for existing respiratory conditions like asthma.

A Breath of Fresh Air

Exhausting stale, contaminated air seems like a simple solution, but it’s only half the story. When air is displaced, it must be replaced. Dedicated Outdoor Air Systems (DOAS) like Modine’s Atherion® Packaged Ventilation System serve to replace that with properly conditioned, fresh air.

The Atherion brings up to 100% outside air into your commercial or industrial space, and conditions that air efficiently and effectively, regardless of outside temperature or humidity. The air is heated, cooled, and/or dehumidified to load neutral conditions to introduce air without straining space heating and cooling equipment. The Atherion can even deliver air that offsets the space load, further reducing the load on the existing cooling and heating systems.

Atherion systems provide indirect-fired, condensing efficiency gas furnace heating, using Modine’s Conservicore™ Technology. It allows units to maintain a consistent discharge air temperature while supplying spaces with fresh air.

An enormous benefit offered by the Atherion is the ability to add dedicated building exhaust with a total (enthalpy) energy recovery wheel. By adding this option, both the exhaust and the supply air is handled by a single system. The true benefit is the recovery of energy from the exhaust stream to pre-condition the outside air being brought into the space. This can save substantially on energy and reduces the mechanical heating or cooling required. The Atherion option utilizes an aluminum wheel for outstanding sensible heat transfer with a molecular sieve desiccant for highly selective latent heat transfer.

Building owners and facilities managers cannot ignore the need for HVAC technology that addresses indoor air quality. Improvements to the health and productivity of occupants more than justify the investment. Facility managers can be confident that the Modine Atherion Packaged Ventilation System will deliver ventilation air at tightly controlled temperature and humidity conditions to meet the specific needs of the space.