Selecting the best air filter for your building comes with many benefits. Among them are energy savings, increased airflow, cost savings, and, most importantly, cleaner air. Modern technology and filter testing create an environment where property managers, facilities managers, HVAC professionals, and sustainability coordinators can achieve high performance in their buildings not only without breaking the bank, but even reducing HVAC-related operating costs. Quality air filtration using premium products positively impacts energy consumption, employee wellness, equipment lifespan, and regulatory compliance. In this article, we will outline which filters are best for each application in your facility and the benefits of premium air filtration.
Does it matter which commercial filter you use? Do they all do the same thing if they have the same MERV rating?
It’s important to select the right kind of air filter for your commercial facility because choosing an inappropriate solution could mean:
- Creating extra waste from having to change the air filter too often because of its higher average pressure drop over the life of the filter, and poor filter longevity due to less dust holding capacity.
- Requiring more labour for filter installation, removal, and disposal, and an increased need for maintenance.
- Spending far too much on HVAC-related energy costs. Most filters are not designed to maximize energy savings.
- Getting poor indoor air quality because a cheaper filter may not maximize airflow and cannot remove enough particles.
- To cut back on waste, reduce the need for extra maintenance, reduce energy costs, and improve your air quality, invest in high-quality air filtration solutions manufactured to accomplish these goals.
Types of Air Filters
Pleated Filters
Pleated panel air filters such as the 30/30 Dual 9 or AQ13, feature more surface area on the media. The pleated design provides greater dust-holding capacity. Pleated panel filters capture more particles than flat panel filters while providing similar installation procedures.
High-quality pleated panel filters feature a high-wet-strength frame and offer high airflow, durability, greater efficiency, moisture resistance, chemical resistance (great for industrial use), and retention of their shape to prolong filter life (e.g., no bowing). Premium 4-inch pleated panel filters provide energy savings with a higher dust-holding capacity and a low, stable pressure drop. The filters also reduce strain on HVAC system fans, thereby reducing energy consumption and extending filter life.
Pleated panel filters typically offer MERV 8 ratings and can go up to MERV 13 (AP-Thirteen SC). They are usually available in 1-inch and 2-inch depths, or 4-inch depths if needed. Premium panel filters are designed with welded-wire media to maintain the structure.
2-in-1 Filter Solutions: Molecular and Particulate Filtration Team Up
A 2-in-1 molecular and particulate solution, such as the CityPleat panel filter, offers both particulate filtration for dust and solid contaminants, as well as gas and odour filtration. It uses activated-carbon media on one side and synthetic media on the other. A pleated panel 2-in-1 solution is usually used in buildings located in urban centres, such as shopping malls and public buildings, and in other commercial spaces where external sources of pollution, such as vehicle exhaust, and internally generated pollutants, such as kitchen exhaust in office towers, are present.
What Are Commercial Panel Filters?
Panel filters are mainly used for general air filtration to remove coarser fibres or as a first stage of a multi-stage filtration system. In this case, they protect more expensive final filters by capturing larger dust particles, allowing final filters to capture more difficult-to-filter-out finer particles, such as airbourne viruses and PM1, while protecting HVAC hardware and prolonging final filter life. They protect the downstream filters. They are also used for gas turbine inlets.
What are panel filters usually used for?
Panel filters are used in hospitals as a prefiler and in offices and commercial buildings as prefilters and final filters when a high level of air filtration is not required. They are usually available in MERV 8-13.
Pocket/Bag Filters
Bag-style air filters are high-efficiency filtration solutions used primarily as final filters in hospitals and in commercial and industrial applications. In highly sensitive areas such as cleanrooms, bag filters serve as a primary stage, protecting HEPA filters and extending their lifespan by removing larger particulates in the first stage. The multi-pocket/tapered pleat design has a high dust-holding capacity.
Camfil’s premium bag filters, such as the HiFlo ES, feature lower static pressure and better energy savings. Purpose-built premium air filters from Camfil feature a multi-pocket, high-efficiency design with tapered pleats and pockets that fully utilize their media areas and offer performance and service-life guarantees. They can be used without a prefilter to reduce energy costs and feature the lowest average pressure drop and a 5-Star Energy Cost Index (ECI) rating.
Designs that incorporate Controlled Media Spacing (CMS) and tapered pockets ensure uniform airflow and minimize pressure drop, which significantly reduces HVAC-related system energy consumption.
Pocket/bag filters, such as the City-Flo, feature particle filtration combined with a molecular solution, such as activated-carbon media, for gas capture of contaminants, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), ozone, odours, industrial process chemicals, or to prevent corrosion.
Box-style Air Filters
Box-style air filters are high-performance filters suitable for cleanrooms, laboratories, and facilities with higher air quality requirements. The best box-style filters feature high-efficiency deep-pleated or V-bank media known for their low operating costs.
Compact V-Bank / Mini-Pleat Media filters
When space is constrained in an HVAC system, compact V-Bank or mini-pleat filters are a perfect solution. Their microfine glass or synthetic media are arranged in a V-bank or deep-pleated structure. Despite their small footprint, they feature a large media surface area with a high dust-holding capacity.
Low Life-Cycle Cost
One of the best features of box-style air filters is their lower pressure drop, which consumes less energy. The design also results in an extended lifespan and lower purchasing, labour, filter-related maintenance, and disposal costs.
Box-style Air Filter Designs
● High-quality, box-style filters in a V-bank design such as the Durafil ES3 use durable yet lightweight materials, such as ABS plastic, which maintain structural integrity and prevent media compromise even under high airflow conditions.
● Box-style filters are also available in galvanized steel frames.
● Moisture-resistant microfine glass media in high-efficiency box filter designs maintain performance in high-humidity conditions.
Box-Style Filter Performance
Box-style filters are available in MERV ratings from MERV 13/13A to MERV 16/16A. They provide superior performance for finer particles, such as PM2.5, which are a greater threat to human health and to sensitive equipment. Efficiencies of up to 99.999% are available for HEPA and ULPA box filters.
In offices, schools, and museums, box-style filters can serve as final filters in single- or multi-stage setups. They provide great indoor air quality and protect sensitive materials.
They are highly efficient, serving as effective prefilters for HEPA and ULPA filters, relieving workload and prolonging the lifespan of these more expensive filters.
HEPA and ULPA Filters
HEPA and ULPA filters capture 99.97% to 99.9995% of microscopic particulates. Such performance is critical for cleanrooms, hospitals, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and other processes that require the cleanest air.
Camfil’s Absolute HEPA and ULPA filters are individually tested according to IEST (Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology) standards IEST-RP-CC001 and IEST-RP-CC007, ISO 29463 standard (a global uniform standard, covering general requirements and test procedures). Camfil tests its HEPA and ULPA filters for the nuclear industry with the ASME AG-1 standard (Code on Nuclear Air and Gas Treatment for nuclear-grade filters).
Carbon and Molecular Filters
Activated carbon filters and other molecular air filters remove odours, ozone, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These filters are used in applications such as chemical processing, food processing, museums, and airports. They are available in compact designs, built-up bank frames, and a wide selection of media types.
Filters such as the CitySorb line use activated carbon to remove gaseous contaminants and odours. They use broad-spectrum carbon media to control pollutants found in urban environments, such as ozone, VOCs, nitrogen dioxide, and sulphur dioxide.
Key Considerations When Choosing a Commercial Air Filter
The following considerations need to be made when selecting an air filter for your commercial or public building (it is best to consult an air filtration expert, Camfil provides complimentary site surveys):
● Required filtration efficiency (ISO 16890, ASHRAE 52.2, MERV).
● Pressure drop and energy consumption impact.
● Filter lifetime, ease of replacement, and maintenance costs.
● Compatibility with current or planned HVAC and air handling unit designs.
● Regulatory and industry-specific health and safety requirements.
The Importance of Energy Efficiency and Sustainability
Energy-efficient air filters reduce HVAC system load and feature the lowest average pressure drop throughout the filter life, thereby lowering operating expenses. Premium filters support sustainability goals for commercial and public facilities. Lastly, the type of filter you choose affects labour hours for maintenance, replacement, and disposal.
Camfil’s Commercial Air Filter Solutions
Camfil’s air filters provide long service life, lower average pressure drop, and great sustainability. Facilities using Camfil solutions often report substantial reductions in energy use and maintenance labour hours backed by case studies and performance reports.
Contact Camfil Canada
Camfil’s air filtration experts can help you improve your indoor air quality (IAQ) by addressing regional challenges and operational needs. Whether you seek to control hazardous emissions or improve the IAQ in your workplace, Camfil can help. To find a local rep, use this contact form, and someone will reach out to you. Contact form
About Camfil Canada Clean Air Solutions
For more than 60 years, Camfil has been helping people breathe cleaner air. As a leading manufacturer of premium clean air solutions, we provide commercial and industrial systems for air filtration and air pollution control that enhance worker and equipment productivity, reduce energy consumption, and benefit both human health and the environment.
Media Contact:
Phillip Ilijevski
Camfil Canada Inc.
Sources:
ASHRAE
Health Canada