Ottawa Catholic School Board spending millions to upgrade ventilation systems in schools

OTTAWA -

The head of the Ottawa Catholic School Board says the board has been busy all summer upgrading ventilation and air quality systems in classrooms in preparation for a second school year during the COVID-19 pandemic.

And with the first day of classes just four weeks away, Director of Education Tom D'Amico anticipates all upgrades will be completed when students return to the classroom.

"Since last September, we have received close to $26 million from federal and provincial funding," said D'Amico during an interview on CTV News at Six.

"What we have been doing this summer is continuing to inspect all of our rooftop units, all of our HVAC systems. We're making sure that they're optimized to get the cleanest, freshest air into every school."

D'Amico says after installing 650 HEPA filtration units (high-efficiency particulate absorbing filter units) in the 83 schools last year, another 386 HEPA filters will go into classrooms this school year.

"We've installed over 200 UV ceiling light circulation fans over the summer, and one of our large projects, thanks to some of the federal funding, we're taking unit ventilators and installing those in over 200 portables this summer," said D'Amico.

The Ottawa Catholic School Board told Newstalk 580 CFRA last week that all schools have had some level of an upgrade to ventilation systems, including:

• Increasing the running of air exchange time systems; 
• Increasing frequency of inspections;
• Increasing frequency of filter changes; and
• All exhaust systems and rooftop units have been inspected and serviced to ensure that all equipment functions at peak efficiency.

The Director of the Ottawa Catholic School Board says the board's ventilation systems were already at or above standards.

Last week, the Ontario government announced an additional $25 million for improving air quality within schools across Ontario. Instructional spaces without mechanical ventilation will be given HEPA filter units, including in Kindergarten classes where masks are not mandatory.

During an interview on CTV News at Six with Colton Praill, D'Amico said every one of the Ottawa Catholic School Boards schools already have mechanical ventilation.

"So what we're doing is supplementing or enhancing that mechanical ventilation - things like the Kindergarten classrooms will have the HEPA filters, our isolation rooms, any classroom that has a medically fragile student – so we're really pleased with the support that we've received and our schools will be ready," said D'Amico.

The Ontario government's back to school plan released last week included a section on ventilation in schools.

"School boards are expected to continue optimizing air quality in classrooms and learning environments through improving ventilation and/or filtration. This is a key element in the multiple protective strategies to support healthy and safe learning environments for students and staff," said the report.

For schools with full mechanical ventilation, school boards are expected to have all ventilation systems inspected and in good working order prior to the start of the school year, undertake frequent filter changes through the school year and operate ventilation systems two hours or more before and after school occupancy.

The Ottawa Catholic School Board outlined to Newstalk 580 CFRA other initiatives added to schools:

• Recommissioning of rooftop HVAC equipment to recalibrate air flows and fresh air dampers. Work continues through this summer to inspect and recommission all mechanical ventilation systems.
• Additional filter changes by adding more frequent replacements from four times a year to now five or six times a year.
• Equipment for fresh air intake runtime has been increased to be in operation before and after occupancy by at least an additional hour.
• Soap dispensers and hand towels have been added in classrooms with sinks, and hand sanitizer dispensers were installed in all classrooms without sinks.
• Water bottle filling stations continue to be installed in schools.

OTTAWA CARLETON DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD

The Ottawa Carleton District School Board outlines its work to upgrade the ventilation and air quality systems in schools on its website.

The OCDSB ordered 1,250 HEPA filtration units. Of those, 800 units were distributed in the fall of 2020 and the remaining 450 units were distributed last spring. HEPA filtration unit distribution focused on classrooms where increased ventilation measures were not possible, isolation rooms and all Kindergarten classes.

Long-term measures in Ottawa's public schools include:

• Air purification improvements, including upgrading to MERV-13 filters, new UV filtration and bi-polar ionization filtration systems.
• Window replacement
• Major equipment renewal (such as HVAC replacements, unit ventilator upgrades, rooftop unit upgrades and HVAC control upgrades). 

According to the OCDSB website, the work will be finished by the end of December.