Canadian Experts Invent Way to Detect, Track, and Reduce COVID Risks Inside Buildings

The ParticleOne platform measures, tracks and monitors COVID and other pathogen risks inside buildings. Facility managers are able to make informed, science-based decisions on what mitigations are needed in a specific space to reduce the risk of an outbreak. (CNW Group/ParticleOne)

Building owners can be more confident to reopen their doors with a better understanding of their buildings’ COVID risk levels, thanks to ParticleOne, a new Canadian company formed by experts in building science, air flow, ventilation, and viral transmission.

ParticleOne builds on public health guidelines to address the complexities of specific spaces, enabling business owners to make informed choices. By applying building science, data analytics, and computer modelling, the ParticleOne cloud-based software measures an accurate profile of a space and offers clear, science-based guidance and solutions to reduce viral transmissions. The system accounts for the distinct layout, use, ventilation, and location of a building, while also calculating the future impacts of emerging variants, local infection, and vaccination rates.

ParticleOne was developed in response to environmental engineering firm RWDI’s own challenge to understand and manage the different risk levels for each of its 26 offices and three model shops around the world. RWDI developed ParticleOne in partnership with University of Guelph genomics scientist, Dr. Steven Newmaster, to oversee its reopening plans.

“Our risk calculations take into account the performance of critical HVAC systems and configurations e.g., air-volumes, O/A fraction, filtration effectiveness, temperature and humidity set-points, among others,” said Mike Williams, Lead Building-Performance Engineer at ParticleOne. “Our overall approach allows building operators to understand how to dynamically tune HVAC systems and occupant behaviors to manage viral transmission risks in their spaces on an ongoing basis.”

The ParticleOne Platform:

• Provides oversite of multiple properties at once with a customized dashboard that indicates the risk of COVID transmission at each location.
• Runs thousands of simulations to compare the effectiveness of different safety measures, including HEPA filters, masks, occupancy levels and more.
• Provides regular monitoring of all locations and alerts facility managers when action is needed.

The aim is to focus on reducing the risk of COVID inside shared spaces, its technology and solutions will also measure the risk for other common viruses and emerging pathogens.

particleone.com