2:55 PM May 09, 2015

Air Purification Keeps Pets and People Happy

Spa Paw & Tail

Spa Paw & Tail

Spa Paw & Tail

Animal odors in a pet care facilitycan be a turnoff for potentialcustomers, who might perceive thebusiness to have unsanitaryconditions.

So Spa Paw & Tail, a pet boardingfacility in New Berlin, Wis., is usingheating, ventilation and airconditioning (HVAC) air purificationtechnology to control odors, reduceenergy bills and prevent potentialinfectious airborne animal diseases.

The 10,000-square-foot facilityaccommodates up to 125 dogs andcats in individual guest rooms.

"The sense of smell influences acustomer’s first impression uponentering a pet business,” said NinaRace, president of Spa Paw & Tail."Bad odors give the impression anestablishment isn’t clean, eventhough it might be spotless from asanitation standpoint.

"Since installing the air purificationequipment in our HVAC equipment,odors [in our] greeting and gift shop[areas] have been eliminated,” Racesaid.

Race’s first attempt to control odorby introducing more outdoor airthrough the HVAC systems wassuccessful, but the energy costs weretoo high.

Action Heating and Cooling inMilwaukee suggested cutting thefacility’s energy bills by installingair-purification devices on its HVACcoils. Instead of 100 percent outdoorair, which must be expensivelyheated, cooled and/or humidified, the addition of air purification devices allows fora return to a conventional outdoor air proportion of 15 percent. Meanwhile, the airpurifiers eliminate odors and contaminants as the indoor air is recirculated throughthe HVAC systems.

Action Heating and Cooling installed eight APCO air purification systems bymanufacturer Fresh-Aire UV on each of four 7.5-ton rooftop HVAC systems.

The APCO systems combine ultraviolet light and gas-phase carbonmedia/photocatalytic oxidation technologies to remove microbial and volatileorganic compound contaminants, respectively. The UV light kills all types ofairborne microbes as they recirculate through the HVAC system.

"We’ve never had health issues at our facility, but the incorporation of UV as aninfection deterrent is a nice backup,” Race said.

To further reduce odors, Action Heating and Cooling is scheduled to design anHVAC retrofit of an adjoining 2,000-square-foot small dog area by improving airdistribution, incorporating air purification, and adding three heat recoveryventilation rooftop systems by RenewAire LLC for energy savings.