Monitoring airborne transmission inside buildings using MF-BM

英国公共卫生部感染控制指南将COVID-19的主要传播方式归因于通过咳嗽、打喷嚏和接触污染表面产生的呼吸道飞沫。重的液滴可以在很短的距离内从气流中落下，而相对轻的液滴可以在气流中飞得更远。因此，一个关键的挑战是绘制液滴传播图，以确定受污染的表面或区域，以尽量减少建筑空间的健康和安全风险。2019冠状病毒病对全球共享办公空间市场产生了重大影响。然而，由于越来越多的公司长期支持远程工作，预计疫情后市场将会上涨。因此，必须采取措施，有效管理日益增长的能源需求和相关的联合办公空间设施的碳足迹，同时支持其提供健康和COVID -19安全的工作场所。这一步骤将确保它不会对更大范围的脱碳议程产生负面影响。目前，没有市场解决方案提供跟踪液滴传播并识别可能受污染的表面或区域，而是专注于有效管理暖通空调系统，以保持新鲜的气流供应，并期望稀释建筑物内的病毒颗粒。一些市场供应商提供人工智能视频解决方案，一旦在工作场所发现活跃病例，就可以自动追踪接触者。然而，该解决方案严重依赖于广泛的视频监控，可能会给最终用户带来隐私问题。Twin Dynamics有限公司（TD）开发了一种多保真度建筑模型（MF-BM）技术，该技术可以提供建筑空间内近乎实时的气流和热信息，并用于评估局部个人居住者的热舒适性及其生产力。设施管理人员可以使用这些技术数据来平衡建筑空间内的通风，以获得最佳的热舒适性和能源成本，从而减少碳足迹。MF-BM的工作原理是将实时压力、流量和温度传感器数据与高保真流体动力学模拟相结合，使用TD内部开发的代码。然而，由于建筑空间内的气流是呼吸道液滴的载体，TD热衷于进一步开发技术，以预测近实时的液滴传播及其在建筑空间内的预测沉降位置。

Public Health England guidance on infection control attributes COVID-19 major transmission modes to respiratory droplets generated though coughing, sneezing and the contact with contaminated surfaces. Heavy droplets can fall out of airstream within a short distance, however relatively light droplets can travel further in air streams. Therefore, a key challenge is mapping droplet spread to identify contaminated surfaces or zones to minimise health and safety risk in building space. COVID-19 has had major impact on the Global Coworking Spaces Market. However, the market is expected to rise post pandemic due to more companies supporting remote working practices in the longer term. Therefore, it becomes imperative to take steps for efficiently managing increasing energy demand and the associated carbon footprint of the facilities hosting coworking spaces whilst supporting it to deliver a healthy and COVID -19 secure workplace. The step would ensure that it does not have a negative impact on the larger decarbonisation agenda.Currently, no market solution offers to track droplet spreading and identify probable contaminated surfaces or zones, instead focussing on effectively managing an HVAC system to maintain fresh supply of airflow with an anticipation of diluting the virus particles inside the building. Some market providers offer AI powered video solutions for automated contact tracing once an active case is detected at the workplace. However, the solution relies heavily on extensive video surveillance and can potentially create privacy issues for the end-user.Twin Dynamics Limited (TD) has developed a Multi-Fidelity Building Model (MF-BM) technology which offers near real-time airflow and thermal insight within the building space and is used to evaluate localised individual occupant thermal comfort and their productivity. This technical data can be used by the Facility Mangers to create a balance between the ventilation inside the building space for optimal thermal comfort and energy cost, which leads to reduce carbon-footprint. MF-BM works by combining real-time pressure, flow rate and temperature sensors' data with high fidelity fluid dynamics simulations, using in-house developed code by TD. However, as airflow within building spaces acts as a respiratory droplet carrier, TD are keen to further develop the technology to predict near real-time droplet spread and its predicted settlement locations within building space.