Renowned insurance and reinsurance market, Lloyds of London, is installing innovative air purification technology into all of its UK offices so that staff members can return safely to work.
Founded in 1688, Lloyds has become a pioneer in the insurance industry and over the last 330 years has established itself as the world’s leading market for specialist insurance.
Like millions of UK businesses, the firm has been operating remotely since March 2020 as a result of the pandemic, but is now in the process of making offices COVID secure with the installation of innovative air purification technology, proven to eliminate harmful viruses and bacteria, including SARS-CoV-2.
Manufactured by US based RGF Environmental Group and provided by UK HVAC specialists, Better Indoors, the air purification technology uses no chemicals or harmful substances and works by producing and maintaining similar concentrations of hydrogen peroxide molecules, as those found in the outdoor air.
When coming into contact with microbials, the naturally occurring molecules break them down, destroy them and then revert them back to harmless water vapour and oxygen. The air purification technology produces 1 quadrillion of these molecules every second, quickly killing any airborne virus or bacteria, including COVID-19.
Working closely with specialists in the operation and maintenance of complex building services, Jaguar Building Services, and building consultants, MEIT, the air purification technology underwent stringent testing in Lloyds iconic Lime Street estate in London during September – October 2020. After delivering results identical to the immediate impact of fogging, Better Indoors is now in the process of installing RGF REME HALO air purification units throughout the 55,000 sqm building and all other Lloyds estates in the UK.
Andrew Hobbs Managing Director of Better Indoors explained: “The RGF air purification technology is phenomenal and essentially vaccinates the air, offering the most proactive approach to COVID transmission control, whilst providing businesses with an extra layer of protection beyond the capabilities of current COVID mitigation measures.
More and more organisations, like Lloyd’s, are waking up to the power of air purification technology for combatting COVID-19 and installing it within their premises to ensure staff can safely return to work. Because of the asymptomatic transmission of COVID-19, it can be argued that active air purification technology must be made mandatory in all indoor spaces because without it and when people start to relax distancing measures there will always be a risk of the R rate going back up. Following the installation, Lloyd’s no longer have to worry about this and can get back to business in their pre-COVID working environment.”
Terry Blacker, Property and Facilities Management Executive at Lloyd’s added: “The COVID-19 pandemic has obviously been incredibly challenging for millions of businesses both UK and worldwide and part of this challenge is maintaining the same productivity, output and company culture with all staff operating remotely. Working closely with Jaguar Building Services, MEIT Consultants and Better Indoors, we became one of the first UK businesses to trial the RGF air purification technology, following a surge of installations in the United States.
We undertook a lot of due diligence and testing to prove that this system worked including ATP (adenosine triphosphate) swab testing, which found that the level of pathogens on surfaces in the office which were extremely low and identical to the immediate results of fogging. As a result, we are now in the process of installing the RGF REME HALO air purification units across all Lloyd’s UK offices and look forward to welcoming our staff back to a COVID-secure work environment in the coming weeks.”
Headquartered in Surrey, Better Indoors boasts extensive experience in the HVAC and air purification industries. The sole UK distributor of RGF Environmental Group, the firm is focused on raising awareness of the valuable role air purification technology can play in instantly destroying harmful bacteria and viruses, like COVID-19.