Air Quality During COVID Pandemic at CrossFit AllStar LLC.
Air Quality During COVID Pandemic of 2020 at CrossFit AllStar LLC.
Written by KC Stallsmith, Founder CrossFit AllStar LLC.
As the Pandemic continues, I never thought the air quality inside our facility would become such a hot topic, or such a valuable asset. Sure, we are a fully equipped CrossFit Gym in Kamuela, Hawai’i with all the bells and whistles, including a powerful vision and mission statement we share around the world with an AllStar community to match. At CrossFit AllStar we provide the most effective method of fitness imaginable, to any person, regardless of age or fitness level, in an environment where everyone is an AllStar. In 2016 we were recognized by SELF Magazine at one of the 11 Best CrossFit Gyms in America, yet NONE OF THIS MATTERS during a Pandemic unless we can SAFELY serve our community.
Like most of you, I’ve been paying close attention to the evolution of the pandemic. I had read articles like the The Wall Street Journal article “Gyms Reopening May Not Facilitate Coronavirus Infections, Study Finds” which basically states that gyms are safe if rules are enforced. Well, all gyms are different, and by human nature, enforcing rules and assuming all gym environments, staff, enforcement are the same globally would be ignorant at best.
With 17 COVID-Positive Cases Linked to 2 Oahu Gyms in July, I became increasingly concerned. As a gym owner, my entire life mission is to promote health and wellness. I basically can’t sleep a night unless I know i’m doing that. My concerns led me to wonder if our facility, environment, procedures are providing the BEST possible outcome and LEAST possible chance for COVID infections. I thought we were doing good, but how can we test that?
This led me to work with a Big Island company called Terrawatt, owned and operated by Blake Reid https://terrawatthome.com/about. Blake’s company is responsible for creating healthier homes by testing the interior environment and making recommendations based on his findings. He uses a variety of technology to do this, and won’t settle for anything other than science based recommendations. I asked him if he could ‘test the air quality’ in the gym so I could say with confidence if we provide the best environment available to us.
CrossFit AllStar is 2500 square feet, already a great sized location, we’re flanked on the entire front wall with 21 windows of 4 louvers each that remain open at all times. Additionally, we have 3 standard doors that remain open during all business hours. The best part of our gym, and what really sold me on the space back in 2011, is that we have a 12 feet wide by 16 feet high roll up door on the opposite side which gives us as much outdoor air access as possible. The ceilings span from 16 feet all the way up to 30 feet, we have no drop ceilings. Already outfitted with all these ventilation means to fresh air outside, our gym never feels stuffy and when the breeze blows it does so right through our facility. You can literally see leaves and chicken feathers blowing through our gym. But I still wondered…are we doing enough?
Blake from Terrawatt, installed a robot air quality monitor (called a Foobot) in the gym for 7 days, 24 hours a day, from Wednesday July 15 to Wednesday July 22 (see graph attached). The monitor’s job was to test ‘air particles’ in the space and collect constant data. Towards the end of the test, Blake asked me to take one of our ‘air mover’ fans and place it at the back roll up door…facing OUT. So instead of using the fan to ‘move’ air in the gym like we used to do, he now asked us to place the fan backwards and shoot the air OUT the back. You will see by looking at the graph from the monitor, this deceased the particle count in the air significantly. The fan basically sucks air through the gym and shoots it outside, creating a steady (but not insanely) stream of fresh air into the gym and shooting used air out the back. It has been proven that fresh, increasing ventilation with outdoor air is best prevention against airborne contagion (see EPA article ‘Indoor Air and Coronavirus 'https://www.epa.gov/coronavirus/indoor-air-and-coronavirus-covid-19). I was delighted to find that there was in fact MORE we could do to help our air quality be the best it can be. Upon further talking with Blake, he explained that the 2 gyms on Oahu that contracted COVID were indoor spaces, with overhead fans pushing air down, basically ‘stirring the soup’ of air in the room. At CrossFit AllStar, I am proud to say we have all the fresh air ventilation mentioned earlier, PLUS an active exhaust fan that our science says decreases the ‘air particles’ in the space, meaning it’s moving the air, in a good way.
With this knowledge, I can now reassure you, we are doing all we can to provide as much outdoor air quality inside our facility as is possible. When you enter our facility, you will see the difference between what our facility, and what a traditional ‘indoor gym’ is. There is no comparison.
In addition to these measures, what you can expect at CrossFit AllStar to keep you safe:
- Attendees must reserve ahead of time on Zen Planner
- Attendees stand 6 feet apart before class and are not allowed in until start time
- 2500 square foot facility allows 13 attendees max (10 max for HPA, 250 sq. feet per student)
- Temp check upon entry
- Mandatory hand sanitization upon entry AND exit
- 8 foot x 8 foot designated workout areas tapped off on the ground
- Masks mandatory at all times unless in designated workout box, or running outside (Masks required at all times in workout boxes for HPA students, except when running outside)
- No personal items allowed inside except small equipment like jumprope, grips, workout journal
- No sharing of any equipment or items
- All equipment must be cleaned and sanitized after use
- 3 new additional cleaning stations have been installed with wipes and alcohol spray
- Attendees must exit facility immediately after workout so we can sanitize the floor
- Cleaning products used are Sugar Creek 80% Ethyl Alcohol Hand Sanitizer (liquid), *locally made Kuleana Rum 80% Hand Sanitizer (liquid), Lysol Concentrate kills 99% of virus, Vega Disinfecting Wipes kills 99% of bacteria
- New battery operated sprayer used to spray floor with disinfectant after each class
*See images of cleaning products we use below
Chart showing information collected from Terrawatt, showing a decrease in particles in the air after implementing the back exhaust fan on Tuesday, July 21.
