Sprague’s team set up Petri dishes with measured amounts of viruses around different workspaces at Panache. Test strips accompanied the dishes to show ozone exposure. Then, Texas Air Industries pumped ozone gas into those selected rooms. A light attached to a gas transmitter showed red or green depending on if ozone concentrations were safe for attendees to enter or not. Afterward, Industrial Genetics gathered the dishes to take back to their lab and test for DNA degradation.

The disinfecting system implements ozone gas into pre-existing and new HVAC systems, being able to disinfect an entire building on a daily basis.

Texas Air Industries already has one customer: Tech 3443, a property management company located in Austin. Their building is being constructed with the system installed.

However, purchasing and installing a system is a little tricky. A candidate must conduct an engineering study of its current HVAC system. If it’s a good fit, then a company can go ahead and purchase it. After installation, the company must maintain the disinfection system once a year to calibrate the sensors and change the filter material.

Representatives from global commercial building investments, management, and large local architecture firms attended the demo. Invitees were limited to manage social distancing.

If you’re a company interested in purchasing the ozone disinfecting system, you can contact Texas Air Industries. Systems cost roughly $40,000 for a 20,000 square-foot building.