Clear the Air. Keep Your Team!

Let’s face it: the only constant these days is change. And sometimes, change isn’t so great. Especially when it involves losing employees because your facility’s air quality isn’t up to par. High turnover drives up hiring, training, and retention costs. Who wants that?!

But there is a kind of change that actually helps: air changes.

As air-quality expectations continue to rise, proper ventilation is no longer just about comfort and productivity. It’s about health, safety, and creating an environment where employees want to stay. Getting the right amount of fresh air moving through your space is essential.
 
So, how do you determine your facility’s ventilation needs?

It starts with calculating how often the air inside a room must be completely replaced. This is known as an air turnover (or air change) rate, expressed either as minutes per air change or air changes per hour. The ideal rate depends on your environment.
 
For example:

• A typical warehouse needs an air change roughly every 7 minutes (though this can vary between 4 and 10 minutes).
• A welding room, on the other hand, requires a much faster air change, about every 3 minutes, to offset heat buildup and noxious fumes.

Once you know your target rate, the math is pretty simple. We'll keep things easy (because… who doesn’t love easy math?!). Let's say you have a 100’ x 100’ building with a 10’ ceiling, and your application calls for an air change every 5 minutes, your calculation looks like this:

100' x 100' x 10' = 100,000 ft³ 
100,000 ft³ ÷ 5 minutes = 20,000 CFM
 
That means you need to move 20,000 cubic feet of air per minute (CFM) to fully replenish the air every 5 minutes.
 
Still unsure what your ventilation requirements are?

Call Patterson! Our team of airflow experts can evaluate your space and pair you with the right supply and exhaust fans to solve your ventilation mystery.

Your employees will thank you, and you just might become the talk of the industrial park.