The Challenge of Indoor Air Quality Management: A Case Study in the Hospitality Industry at the Time of the Pandemic

Zanni, Sara Motta Gabriella Mura Matteo Longo Mariolina Caiulo Davide

Air quality management represents a reason for concern in indoor environments, especially now that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown how microbial aerosols pose a threat to human health, requiring proper monitoring. This is particularly true in public and working environments, where the turnover of occupants is high. The hospitality sector, in particular, has been severely affected by limitations related to emergency containment, and it needs to redefine its operations in the perspective of a "new normal" in the post-COVID-19 era. Considering the necessity to provide consistent information about indoor air quality, promote adequate management and increase safety, we developed a case study in cooperation with a major hotel in Turin. A sensing network has been implemented based on corporate-grade monitoring devices, compliant with the RESET standards, recently proposed and applied here to the hospitality sector for the first time. The network is able to detect the concentration of gaseous contaminants and fine particulate matter in semi-continuous mode. The study involved areas of the hotel with different purposes, such as guestrooms, hall, kitchen, restaurant and fitness center. Several valuable insights emerged in support of air quality management and pathways for future research can be outlined, based on the innovative dataset developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Atmosphere is the property of MDPI and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)