ABOUT NQ Environmental
NQ Environmental Patented engineered solutions to airborne infection control and
compliance with OSHA and CDC guidelines
"NQ
Environmental" (NQ) was
founded ten years ago to develop and market products to address air
purification needs of the general marketplace. NQ Environmental is now one of the
leading manufacturers of products that deal with indoor air quality (IAQ)
issues. NQ Environmental currently has a product line that is targeted to medical health facilities
(primarily hospitals), industrial
air cleaning and have developed a smaller product line which
combines the significant parts of the medical and industrial equipment
and markets more broadly to include all
commercial buildings. NQ Environmental
products are high efficiency air filtration and sterilization devices,
which are generally installed in a standalone fashion.
See the NQ Environmental
List of Clients.

NQ Commercial Clarifier
For
residential / allergy/ asthma sufferers, or for small facilities,
see the
effective and affordable
Commercial Clarifier.
- Is the NQ
Environmental line the right choice?
- The
Competition
- The NQ
Difference
THE PROBLEM
Indoor air quality
(IAQ) has been a concern for people in the healthcare industry for many
years. At the beginning of this century it was discovered that tuberculosis (TB) would
spread to other patients in the relatively close confines of a hospital,
whereas, the spread of the disease could be checked if the patients were
isolated in an environment that provided abundant fresh air and sunshine
(the TB sanitarium). Once thought to have been eliminated as a general
health threat, TB has made a comeback in a form that is much more
resistant to existing antibiotics. TB patients are not only visiting
hospitals; they are going to clinics, doctors’ offices, and other public
places with confined interior air.
In addition, the
roll of other airborne antagonists has been recognized as a contributing
factor to poor IAQ conditions. These include molds, pollens, smoke,
chemical vapors, bacteria and other infectious agents. The health
implications of poor IAQ have given rise to the term "sick building
syndrome". There are two basic approaches to improving indoor air
quality. One is to exchange the interior air with exterior (presumably
better) air. The other approach is to clean the existing interior air.
(Obviously, a combined approach could be used.) Many new buildings are
constructed with windows that do not open and thus rely on their
existing HVAC system (heating-ventilation-air conditioning) to achieve
adequate indoor air quality. However, simply moving air around in a
building does not improve its quality unless it is either exchanged with
outside fresh air or is filtered. Most HVAC systems provide only limited
filtration for the contaminants mentioned above and very few actually
exchange the air.
The elimination of
TB bacteria (mycobacterium tuberculosis) is especially critical due to
the severe health implications. However, the basic options are similar;
exchange the air or kill the bacteria in the contaminated air. Thus,
hospitals have been building "negative
pressure" rooms where the air is continuously exhausted and replaced
by fresher air. In this way the airborne contaminates associated with a
particular patient are not allowed to travel throughout the rest of the
hospital. This approach is expensive and is non-portable. Costs to build
a typical negative pressure room range from $25,000 to $30.000. The
other approach, killing the TB bacteria, requires a relatively high dose
of ultraviolet (UV) radiation. UV radiation "filters" can be
retrofitted into existing
HVAC systems but the cost of this is considerable as well. The
marketplace needed lower cost, more flexible, alternatives.
THE SOLUTION
The NQ Environmental
line of air treatment systems represent a simple and economical
way to bring a room into compliance with the latest guidelines from both
the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the
Center for Disease Control
(CDC). NQ Environmental offers both free-standing (NQ500) (NQ1000/2000)
and wall mounted units (NQ250/400) that have various particulate
filters as well as UV lamps.
The CDC states
that "Air disinfection can be accomplished by ultraviolet germicidal
irradiation (UVGI) and by filtration of air, such as through high
efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters." TB bacteria can be killed
with a UV dosage of 10,000
micro-W/cm squared or are also generally large enough to be trapped
by a HEPA filter.
Carbon filters are
also available in some NQ Environmental products to eliminate odors and volatile
organic compounds (VOC's). (NQ1000/2000)
(NQ500)
The smallest small
wall-mounted unit is 32"x26"x12.5" (NQ250/40) the next largest
free-standing system is 78"x26"xl3"
(NQ500) and lastly
62"x26"x49" (NQ1000/2000). They are designed with high efficiency
fans for maximum air exchange and quiet operation. The units accommodate
standard rectangular filters and UV lamps. The use of both a HEPA filter
and UVGI provides a fail-safe approach to providing a TB-free
environment. While the technologies involved with the NQ products have
been available for decades, it is the integration of these technologies
into an effective and economical product that represents a real
breakthrough. The products require little, if any, installation and can
be quickly deployed wherever IAQ is a problem.
See the NQ Environmental
List of Clients.
Is the NQ
Environmental product right for your facility?
The NQ
Environmental existing medical product line users includes operators of
healthcare facilities. The NQ Environmental products are used not only
in hospitals but also clinics, doctors offices, nursing homes, and
mortuaries to name a few.
Commercial
building operators use the Clarifier (CARE2000), which is an excellent commercial building
unit.
THE COMPETITION
and Differences
There were about
12 competitors that manufacture products similar to the main NQ product
line. Only 4 remain in the marketplace today. However, only two had both
HEPA and UV and NQ Environmental is now the only unit left as a choice.
NQ Environmental has
conducted a thorough competitive
analysis and has detailed comparisons of the features of each with
respect to the NQ product. The result is a listing of the "23 Points To
A Better Unit" for their top of the line
NQ500 system (see below).
No competitor has
a product that can match the combination of features offered by NQ
Environmental.
Many are actually more expensive and less functional. As for "The Clarifier", there is no competing product that
addresses this market niche; aesthetically pleasing, high capacity air
purification systems with carbon, HEPA and UVGI.
As mentioned
above, the competitive analysis
done by NQ Environmental identified 23 ways that their
NQ500 product is superior to
its competition. These points are:
Small footprint Has passed all ECRI tests
Disconnect alarm (Emergency Care Research Institute)
Standard size HEPA filter
Complete Operators Guide
Locking ball bearing casters 2 year product warranty
54 dB sound level (normal speech)
Easy set up with standard electric cord Has CSA registration
Complete airflow because of height (Canadian Standards Approval)
Smoke detector option for safety
Exhaust option as low as $100
Low operating cost of $377 (430 watts)
Best protection of inlet and outlet vents 3 year HEPA life
Door interlock for service safety
Minihelic pressure gauge to monitor all 3 filters
Hour meter
Economical 55 watt UVGI lamps ($49)
LED monitor for UVGI lamps
Full destruction of %100 of airflow
The three features
that most distinguish the NQ products from their competition are:
--
Best airflow pattern (tallest product)
-- Combined UVGI and HEPA filter and / or carbon
-- Extended HEPA filter life due to pre-filters.
Overall advantage is the superior design and manufacturing
engineering
NQ Environmental currently has
the best-designed products in the indoor air quality remediation
business. The products have been engineered for superior function and
economical operation. They represent an attractive option to health care
facilities faced with the need to provide indoor environment that is
free from airborne infectious agents.
The
challenges presented by managed healthcare dictate that the players
consider economic factors
(energy savings with re-circulated and filtered air) as well as
function in making purchase decisions. The NQ product line is well
positioned to address both sides of the buyer’s checklist.
MODELS:
For
residential / allergy/ asthma sufferers, or for small facilities, see the
effective and affordable
Commercial Clarifier.
UVGI \ HEPA AIR PURIFICATION SYSTEMS: 115/60 Hz
MODEL #
|
DESCRIPTION
|
Price each
|
Standard
Clarifier |
350 cfm
Variable Control Mobile Air Purification 2 UVGI |
$ 699.00 |
Medical
Clarifier |
350 cfm
Variable Control Mobile Air Purification 4 UVGI |
$ 999.00 |
NQ250-R |
250 cfm wall
mounted unit with recirculating top |
$ 5,190.00 |
NQ250-NP |
250 cfm wall
mounted unit with neg. pressure top |
$ 5,350.00 |
NQ400-R |
400 cfm wall
mounted unit with recirculating top |
$ 6,675.00 |
NQ400-NP |
400 cfm wall
mounted unit with neg. pressure top |
$ 6,825.00 |
NQ500-R-M |
500 cfm mobile
unit with recirculating top |
$ 8.325.00 |
NQ500-NP-M |
500 cfm mobile
unit with negative pressure top |
$ 8,475.00 |
NQ500-C |
500 cfm mobile
unit with recirculating top – 60 LBS. CARBON |
$ 8,665.00 |
NQ720-C |
720 cfm fixed
ceiling unit with UVGI and 99.999 ULPA filter |
$ 4,370.00 |
NQ1000-R-M |
1000 cfm mobile
unit with louvered top for recirculation |
$ 12,660.00 |
NQ2000-R-M |
1850 cfm mobile
unit with louvered top for recirculation |
$ 16,940.00 |
NOTE:
The NQ500
can be ordered with a fixed base at no additional cost. This is best when
unit is for Neg. Pressure application.
The Negative Pressure
top has a 10” round duct connector on left side. Re-circulating louvers on
right side. A damper plate is installed behind the louvers to adjust
airflow An
optional top (either Negative Pressure or Re-circulating ) is available.
|