Indoor Space and Ventilation
If there's one thing that we learned during the pandemic, it's the importance of safety in our indoor spaces and ensuring that the air gets "cleaned" by refreshing it with outdoor air or through air filtration.
f
While the Total Soccer Centre is an indoor building, the sheer size of the facility provides far greater security than most indoor spaces with respect to airborne viruses. The size of the playing area alone is 11,760 square feet with 30 foot ceilings. That equates to 352,800 cubic feet of space.Total Soccer limits the number of players to 28 per training time spot, plus up to 6 instructors. That works out to 10,376 cubic feet of space per person. Putting that in the context of the school classroom, most classrooms would be in the range of 700 square feet with 8 foot ceilings, amounting to 5600 cubic feet. If you were to conservatively estimate 20 people per classroom, that’s 280 cubic feet per person. So when doing a comparison, a school classroom has approximately 280 cubic feet of space per person whereas the Total Soccer Centre has 10,376 cubic feet per person. That’s just over 37 times the size of space. Measuring cubic feet is relevant for indoor spaces because having more volume of space amounts to less air that’s directly shared between occupants.
...a school classroom has approximately 280 cubic feet of space per person whereas the Total Soccer Centre has 10,376 cubic feet per person. That's just over 37 times the size of space. Measuring cubic square feet is relevant for indoor spaces because having more volume of space amounts to less air that's directly shared between occupants
Air circulation is a vital component of indoor safety. It’s important to have indoor air regularly refreshed with outdoor air. Total Soccer keeps its large bay doors open at all times, as well as the exit doors on the opposite end of the playing area, allowing for better airflow. The HVAC system on the roof will also be continually venting indoor air to the outside. We want training at the Total Soccer Centre to be as close to being outside as possible while still sheltering players and instructors from the elements.
Total Soccer also enlisted the services of ABM Environmental to conduct a thorough air quality and ventilation assessment of our soccer facility. All the recommendations were completed to ensure we were maximizing the safety of the facility.
The ASHRAE Standard Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality recommends a level of 1050 ppm carbon dioxide or less to maintain good air quality. The levels detected in the (Total Soccer) facility were approximately 450 ppm. This is very close to the outdoor level of 395 ppm.
- ABM Environmental Report (May 2020)
Carbon Dioxide Monitor
In the mezzanine area, there is a clearly visible carbon dioxide monitor showing the levels in ppm (parts per million). For reference, outdoor air is close to 400 ppm. Any indoor reading below 800 ppm indicates a well ventilated space. The Total Soccer facility generally produces readings of 450-650 ppm.
Air Filtration with HEPA Filters
Because the washrooms are smaller spaces, we've put a portal air purifier with HEPA filter in each washroom that runs continually when players are in the soccer facility.
Masks
Masks are still required for anyone in the Total Soccer facility who is not playing or coaching. In other words, all spectators must be masking.
Vaccination
Anyone 22 years old or older is required to be fully vaccinated when entering the Total Soccer facility. All Total Soccer coaching staff are also required to be fully vaccinated.
