IQAir
 | The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's general notability guideline. (May 2011) |
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| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Consumer electronics |
| Founder | Manfred Hammes, Klaus Hammes |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Frank Hammes
Jens Hammes Glory Dolphin |
| Products | Air purifiers |
| Website | IQAir.com |
IQAir is a family-owned manufacturer of medical grade air purifiers, based in Rorschach, Switzerland. The IQAir headquarters in North America are in Santa Fe Springs, California.
Early History
The company’s history can be traced back to 1963, when brothers Manfred and Klaus Hammes introduced a simple air filter system for residential coal ovens in Germany. That first system consisted of a filter pad that attached with small magnets to the air outlet of residential coal ovens. The product was initially sold on the premise that it helped reduce the black dust build-up on the walls behind ovens. Soon though, Manfred, a lifelong asthma sufferer, noticed that the filter reduced his flare-ups during the winter months.
Klaus continued through the 1960s and '70s to adapt the filter for other heating systems, such as radiators, baseboard heaters and forced air heating and cooling systems. After a heart attack, Manfred passed away in 1981. Klaus relocated the company to Switzerland, from where the company continued to expand into the rest of Europe and the United States.
Frank Hammes, Klaus' oldest son joined the family business to pursue his inherited passion for the air purification business. After successfully promoting a cabin air filter for Mercedes-Benz automobiles in North America, Frank turned his attention to fan-powered room air cleaners. In 1994 Frank and a team of Swiss and German engineers began working for four years to develop a line of compact air purifiers that rivaled the effectiveness of commercial air purification systems.
In the spring of 1998, the first stand-alone IQAir room air purification rolled off the new production line of the Swiss factory. IQAir air purifiers were initially only available in Europe, but became available in the United States in 2000. In 2001, Klaus Hammes' second son Jens joined the family business and helped the expansion of IQAir into Asia.
Products
IQAir develops and manufactures three categoriesd of products:
- Stand-alone high-performance air purifiers (for example: HealthPro)
- Air cleaning systems for ducted HVAC systems (for example: Perfect 16)
- Handheld laser particle counters (for example: ParticleScan Pro)
IQAir air purification products are recognized by independent product testing organizations to be the best in their class.
Technology
IQAir employs a wide range of purification technologies, including coarse dust, fine dust and ultra-fine particle filtration for solid and liquid air pollutants and a wide range of granular media for targeted gas and odor filtration. IQAir products use no electronic, UV or ionizing technologies and are certified ozone-free.[1]
Special Projects
In 2002, IQAir became the first room air cleaner to meet the strict EN 1822 cleanroom filter norm with an H12/13 certification for its HyperHEPA™ filters, normally only available in expensive cleanroom filtration systems. When severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) became a global concern in 2003, the Hong Kong Hospital Authority after extensive testing chose IQAir as the room air cleaning solution to help stop the spread of the virus. As a result, IQAir was awarded contracts to supply room air cleaners to more than 150 hospitals and health care facilities in Hong Kong in the fight against the spread of the disease.
In the Summer 2004, IQAir was approached by the producers of ABC's TV show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition to help create a healthy home for a family with 6-year-old girl who received a heart transplant. The project was subsequently honored by the American Lung Association, and set the foundation for many more episodes of the show in which IQAir provided air purification to families with serious medical issues. As of January 2011, the company has participated in 13 episodes of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
IQAir was chosen by the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) to provide air purification for US athletes at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. IQAir was also chosen by USA Cycling to provide ultra-high efficiency air cleaning to team members during the Olympics.
IQAir air purification systems also assisted Minyak the Orangutan at the LA Zoo with his breathing problems.[2] Minyak was suffering from chronic pneumonia and consequently depression. Within weeks of the installation of air purification systems, Minyak was doing well and was taken off of his medications.
See also
Air Purifiers
HEPA
Indoor Air Quality
External links
References
- ^ "Ozone: What Air Cleaner Advertisers Don't Tell You". Indoor Environment Connections.
- ^ "IQAir Assists the LA Zoo With Air Purification" (PDF). http://www.lpag.org/.
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