Today, Farmers is installing what is described as the world’s only Covid-killing Biodefense Indoor Air Protection System from Texas-based Integrated Viral Protection.
Integrated is installing the equipment at the insurance company’s offices on Beaver Valley Road, off Concord Pike. The system is also being installed at Farmers sites in Texas, Colorado, and California.
The Farmers Insurance headquarters is the first corporate office building to add the IVP heated-air filtration system to their HVAC system.
IVP’s, citing laboratory data, says its technology destroys 99.9 percent of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19, as well as anthrax spores, and other airborne pathogens.
Testing has included a Covid-19 unit at a hospital with a heavy concentration of droplets.
The system differs somewhat from the HEPA cabin filters touted by airlines. The filter is based on HEPA technology but kills the virus with the rather than trapping it. The technology does not significantly heat up the space where it is being used.
Interest in IVP’s technology grew when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found increasing evidence of “aerosol” spread of the virus, with droplets that can go well beyond six feet and stay in the air for a period of time.
The system from the Texas company is being championed by Dr. Kenneth E. Thorpe, chair of the Department of Health Policy & Management in the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University. Thrope was Deputy Assistant Secretary in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during the Clinton Administration.
(The Rollins School has indirect Delaware ties, with a member of the family of Delaware and Georgia industrialists a major donor to the Atlanta university).
Thorpe, who came across the IVP technology while doing research on Covid-19, sees the system as a key tool in the reopening process as the nation recovers from the pandemic.
While no substitute for measures currently being taken – face coverings, social distancing and sanitizing – the system could add a layer safety and assurance for customers and employees, Thorpe said.
Thrope sees Delaware as a prime candidate for widespread use of technology that could give the the state a leg up in reopening efforts of offices, schools and even smaller businesses such as restaurants.
The IVP system is already in operation at a restaurant in Thorpe’s hometown of Atlanta. The equipment can be installed as an add-on to heating and system or through a portable unit.
The IVP system is also place in Galveston, Texas schools and aided the reopening of classes. The technology underwent testing at the Galveston National Laboratory in the Texas city.