ARI's Air Filter section now includes UV treatment options.

ARLINGTON, Va. - The board of directors of the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute approved a new name and changes for the institute's Air Filters Product Section. It will now be called the Air Filtration and Ultraviolet Light Treatment Section.

"We changed our name in order to facilitate future growth and development of the section," said Eric Brodsky, chairman of the section.

The renamed product section includes three separate subsections:

The Mechanical Air Filter Subsection includes devices that use filter media, which may or may not have a passive electrostatic charge, to mechanically remove airborne particles, including from biological sources, in residential and commercial HVACR systems.

The Electronic Air Filter Subsection includes electrical devices that use an active electrical or ionization field to impose a charge on the airborne particles.

The Ultraviolet Air Treatment Subsection includes factory-made devices that create UV waves for use as a germicidal light to affect microorganisms on illuminated surfaces to break down contaminants in the air circulating in the ductwork of residential and commercial systems.

The section also oversees the development and maintenance of ARI Standard 680-93, "Residential Air Filter Equipment" and ARI Standard 850-93, "Commercial and Industrial Air Filter Equipment."