Compiled by Isabel “Izzy” Medeiros and James P. Malley, Jr., Ph.D., University of New Hampshire

Owners and operators of UV technology are an important stakeholder group; these professionals have limited time and often prefer to remain anonymous when providing feedback. As a result, UV Solutions now builds this column from responses to a Qualtrics survey sent out each quarter with the help of UNH graduate students.

For this “Germicidal Ultraviolet (GUV) applications for air and surface” themed issue, the survey was sent out to providers and owners of these types of equipment since most of them, when installed, either do not have an operator, or the operator is difficult to identify. The authors thank the IUVA buyers guide participants, ASHRAE, NACAA and APIC for recommending email addresses for this poll, with 40 emails sent and 13 responses.

What has the experience been since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic (May 2023)?

Seven responses indicated a marked decrease in GUV interest following the US elections in 2024. Three others indicated more requests for more information on Far UV (also termed Far UV-C or UV@222 nm).

One Australian respondent shared the following: “Department of Health in Victoria is conducting a clinical trial, called the ELUCIDAR study, to investigate the effectiveness of germicidal ultraviolet light in reducing COVID-19 levels in aged care facilities. Germicidal ultraviolet (GUV) lights currently are being installed in residential aged care facilities in Melbourne and Geelong as part of this trial. This trial aims to determine if upper-room GUV lighting can reduce the transmission of airborne viruses like COVID-19 in these settings. The study is a cluster-randomized controlled trial, where facilities have GUV lighting installed and others do not (the study is not listed as blind or double blind in the literature), to compare infection rates.”

How has ASHRAE Standard 241 impacted business so far?

Half of the respondents indicated little to no familiarity with the standard. Six indicated they were aware of 241, but they primarily have been involved with ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 185.1 and 185.2 addressing GUV in their HVAC installations. Three respondents indicated it still is new to everyone and not even two years old. They have seen some increased business in ventilation and filtration equipment from 241, especially related to healthcare facilities like nursing homes, but did not see any increased sales of GUV from it yet.

How much GUV sales focus has been on surface disinfection since 2023?

All respondents indicated it was the smallest part of their business, with wall-mounted GUV and application of GUV in HVAC systems dominating their calls. Five indicated that healthcare and food and beverage industrial clients were using more GUV equipment for surfaces. One indicated that, “…the COVID-19 craze has died down, and we are back to the healthcare acquired infection clients and food industry bacterial outbreaks of primarily Salmonella and Listeria.”

Share the process used for selection, design, operation and monitoring of the GUV equipment sold.

Thirteen respondents indicated that information is proprietary. Four indicated that they tend to follow ASHRAE, ANSI and IES guidelines. One indicated that those specifics are worked out with the client’s needs and requests. Six referred to ANSI/IES RP-44-21; ANSI/ASHRAE 185.1 and 185.2.

One respondent indicated that the field of “GUV for building air and surfaces continues to be the Wild West, and we would like to see it mature to the level of UV requirements that we see in our drinking water UV business. This would make it much easier for our high-quality products and services to compete in this market, which still is dominated by false claims and cheap products that do not work.” Three indicated that they provide a basic operations manual that is clear for customers on how to clean units and replace lamps when they burn out.

If selling directly to consumers (in addition to commercial and industrial clients), share observations on the consumer market since 2023.

Four respondents indicated their equipment is sold to consumers through the large online sales engines of Amazon, Walmart and the remaining box stores. Two indicated these sales “almost doubled each year in 2020, 2021 and 2022” but have “fallen off dramatically in the past two years.” Three of the four respondents indicated that they expected steady consumer growth since people do remain more health conscious and people also have increasing dislike for chemical alternatives for disinfection.

All four respondents have indicated that UV-C LED options have increased this market, and efforts to continue to drive down prices for these consumer GUV devices will be a key factor in growth. Two indicated that growth also will be bolstered by decreasing regulations by government agencies, especially in the US.

One respondent observed that the overall size of the GUV consumer market always will be large due to the reality that there are billions of consumers, but the economic impacts and profit margins to the industry from this market always will be small and highly competitive since “anyone can make a product, mass-produce it and flood the market with it, whether or not it works at all.” That same respondent commented that typical consumer GUV devices often are purchased for $100 or less, so that will “quickly tip the total sales data and estimates of market growth.”

Share any other comments relevant to GUV, IUVA and UV Solutions.

Four respondents indicated that there needs to be more education about GUV for potential customers who still worry about UV causing cancer and blindness, so if IUVA can help with that it would be beneficial. One respondent indicated that customers still have no independent source to consult to tell them how much GUV is needed and how to determine if they are getting what they paid for. So perhaps UV Solutions can publish more articles about giving customers that information, but it “must be written in plain English.”

One other interesting comment was received that “people understand blowers/fans and filters on a basic gut level but do not understand, and so do not trust, GUV in general. Two respondents indicated that they do not know much about IUVA, or the UV Solutions magazine, instead relying upon ASHRAE, IES and ANSI for GUV information.