During the COVID-19 pandemic, New York City became known as ‘ground zero’, due to the high number of cases and deaths from the virus. In response, HVAC contractors in and around the New York metropolitan area have been on constant alert since the earliest days of the pandemic, offering indoor air quality advice and solutions for buildings that stayed open, and now for buildings reopening for public. use.
One such leading solution providers is Gil-Bar, located in downtown Manhattan. This team never rests, tackling more than 5,000 HVAC projects in any given year – and up to 40% of all custom HVAC work in New York City. Additional offices are located in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Gil-Bar was founded in 1986 by Joe Sbarra and John Gill. Both men are still involved with the business and do everything they can to keep the customers’ air clean and their spaces cool and comfortable.
Chris BisacciaTwelve-year-old partner Chris Bisaccia spoke with Contracting matters to describe the company’s history in indoor air quality, a business specialty over the past 15 years, in commercial high-end properties and high-end multi-family homes.
The COVID-19 pandemic took indoor air quality awareness to a whole new level, and Gil-Bar redoubled its commitment to indoor air quality.
“Gil-Bar continues to expand into other areas,” said Bisaccia. “For decades we have worked with many hospitals, schools and laboratories in the metropolitan cities of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania to improve their filtration and provide the best solutions to keep the airways clean and to acceptable standards.”
The COVID-19 pandemic took indoor air quality awareness to a whole new level, and Gil-Bar redoubled its commitment to indoor air quality.
One of Gil-Bar’s recommended recommendations for improving indoor air quality is the HealthWay Disinfecting Filtration System (DFS). The HealthWay DFS has been in use by the New York City Department of Education, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Lincoln Center and many surrounding areas during this pandemic. These plug and play, portable, highly efficient filtration machines are locally stocked and readily available. The filter machines can also be integrated into an existing air duct system.
“We started working with the HealthWay brand family for COVID about a year and a half ago, as we continued with everything we worked on and brought better, innovative products to market. It is a very efficient way to clean the air with HEPA type filtration, in an energy efficient way. We also wanted to market portable air cleaners, increase air changes per hour and add pollutant capture and kill technology, including 0.03 capture
A HealthWay freestanding unit in a doctor’s waiting room.Gil-Bar micron with HEPA type filtration.
Bisaccia said HealthWay has a scalable suite of solutions for almost any indoor environment, from a small bedroom to a large building.
“Their technology has been individually and independently tested to provide the highest level of particle efficiency with the lowest pressure drop of any system we have tested or seen in the industry, making it adaptable to almost any application in our market. The technology not only captures the smallest ultra-fine particles, but also eliminates the risk of microbial growth in the filter and has been tested according to all safety standards, ”explains Bisaccia.
HealthWay began offering IAQ products with electrostatic appeal in 1981. Subsequent offerings include HEPA / ULPA filters, UV, air exchange, electrically enhanced mechanical filters and a photocatalytic product.
The HealthWay DFS uses proprietary technology developed through a US military grant to fight germs. The technology has been individually tested to ensure better efficiency than HEPA, capturing 99.99% of all particles down to 0.007 microns in size. DFS also prevents microbial growth in the filter through microbial inhibition, HealthWay said.
Gil-Bar has installed thousands of HealthWay DFS units.
Chris Bisaccia: “We typically bring options to our customer base so they can look at it from a technical perspective and understand the best solution to complement the existing system. Often it will be a combination of different types of systems. ‘Gil-Bar“We have installed it in every major market sector, from healthcare to financial locations, commercial spaces, residential applications, vaccination centers, restaurants and classrooms, as in-line piping solutions or as a portable unit.”
Bisaccia said the inline installation uses the same technology as the portable units and can be adapted to be installed in an air handling unit. The team also applies other more traditional methods such as UV-C and HEPA filtration.
“We typically bring options to our customer base so they can look at it from a technical perspective and understand the best solution to complement the existing system. Usually it will be a combination of different types of systems. When looking at a commercial space it is important to understand what options are available and how to use them cost effectively without compromising energy efficiency and to make sure you understand what you are trying based on how you use your space, to make sure you’re getting the right filtration, and the end user is getting the results they’re looking for. “
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