The Number Shall Be 1000

The pandemic has impacted many aspects of our lives in ways that range from horribly tragic to annoying.

Interior spaces represent significant risk; density and duration must be managed.

Is there a practical indicator of potential risk arising from too many people in a space for too long?

A recent article in the New York Times brought to light a metric with a specific threshold as a potential guide as we navigate the short-term and long-term complications of a highly contagious virus. “If you have a carbon dioxide detector, you could try a technique previously used to manage the spread of tuberculosis, and use that to tip you off, Dr. Miller suggests. If CO₂ levels are above 1,000 parts per one million, you’d be wise to decrease the number of people in the indoor space, increase the amount of outdoor air or both, she says.”

Interior CO2 levels are a function of room volume, square footage + ceiling height, plus infiltration of outside air. Most organizations today are carefully managing how many people can be present in each space and limiting density and duration by reservation, appointment, or schedule.

Continuous monitoring of CO2 levels will provide an additional level of assurance that safety protocols are being followed, and issue an alert if levels exceed 1000ppm for a defined period of time(e.g. 5 minutes).