MERV 13 filters can boost a facility’s IAQ, but are systems equipped to handle them?
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, if someone mentioned Merv, they were probably talking about Griffin, the longtime television personality.
After the pandemic, MERV, as in the minimum efficiency rating value of air filters, became a popular topic beyond facility managers and HVAC contractors, as people who work in institutional and commercial buildings or send their children to K-12 schools started talking about air filters and their effectiveness keeping unhealthy particles out of the air that circulates throughout buildings.
One of the silver linings that emerged from the pandemic was an increased awareness of indoor air quality (IAQ) among building occupants. Suddenly people who were only worried if their workspace was too hot or too cold were asking, “what kind of air am I breathing right now, and how quality is that air?”