Houston Convention Center Outfits Broadcast Studio With Virus-Killing Air Filters

Houston First Corp., which owns the convention center, and Houston's Slidell Independent School District are the first two entities to outfit rooms with a new mobile air purifier, named the Biodefense Indoor Air Protection System, that eliminates nearly 100% of the coronavirus from the air.

Photo courtesy IVP

Houston First Corp., which owns and operates the George R. Brown Convention Center, has installed three mobile units of a new coronavirus-killing air purifier in the center’s new 5,250-sq-ft broadcast facility.

The venue's Avenida Houston Virtual Studio, which opens next month, represents the beginning of efforts, including visitor screening systems at main entrances, to respond to the challenges of COVID-19. The studio will offer on-site virtual or hybrid conference and event hosting capabilities.

The installation is a joint project of HFC and Monzer Hourani, founder of Integrated Viral Protection and CEO of Medistar Corp. IVP is a partnership with three manufacturers: Dust Free LP, Engineering CPR and Mexico-based Instalaciones y Especialidades Metalicas SA de CV. The group's mobile product is also being deployed by the Slidell Independent School District in Texas.

In July, IVP introduced the biodefense filtration technology, shown to eliminate 99.999% of SARS-CoV-2 and 99.8% of anthrax spores and other airborne contaminants through a heated nickel-foam filter that is said to have little impact on the surrounding air temperature.

The Hourani invention, named the Biodefense Indoor Air Protection System, is based on recent research at the Superconductivity Center of Texas at the University of Houston, the Galveston National Laboratory and the Texas A&M Engineering and Experiment Station.

Nadine M. Post, ENR's editor-at-large for buildings, is an award-winning journalist with 45 years of experience covering trends, issues, innovations, controversies and challenging projects. Post has written about many industry giants, including 10 ENR Award of Excellence winners. And she has covered disasters, failures and attacks, including the 1993 bombing and the 2001 destruction of the World Trade Center. Project stories include the redevelopment of the World Trade Center; the 828-meter-tall Burj Khalifa; Los Angeles’ Disney Concert Hall; and Seattle's Bullitt Center and Rainier Square Tower. In 1985, Post wrote McGraw-Hill's book Restoring the Statue of Liberty (1986) for the restoration’s architects—Richard S. Hayden and Thierry W. Despont.

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