Why And How Do We Improve Indoor Air Quality In Theaters and Cinema Halls?

Watching movies is one of the greatest community entertainment experiences, with approximately 200,000 screens around the world which contribute to billions of revenue for the global film industry. However, cinema halls and movie theaters suffered a major blow during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic. The impact of the said health and economic catastrophe on global box office revenue has reduced the estimated figure from 44.5 billion US dollars to 16.3 billion dollars for the year 2020. But now that the coronavirus wave is at its lowest in the past months and governments around the world are slowly lifting their regulations, cinema halls are slowly beginning to resume operations.

As theaters begin to reopen their doors to the public post-pandemic, it is crucial to have stricter cleanliness and sanitation policies in place to ensure safety and improve guest experience. One of the important factors to consider is indoor air quality.

Why is indoor air quality important? 

Indoor air quality (IAQ) is the status and condition of the air within a built environment such as cinemas and theaters. IAQ is known to have a great impact on comfort, health, and wellbeing of building occupants. When indoor air quality remains poor, it can present a number of problems including:

Virus Infection – guests sit closely with strangers inside enclosed cinema halls for a long period of time, which puts them at a higher risk of being infected with viruses. If an unknowingly infected person in a cinema hall sneezes, talks, or coughs, aerosols or the droplets containing the virus can be suspended in the air or on the surface which can be inhaled by other moviegoers. People who get infected can become carriers of the virus and eventually spread it to the community.

Indoor air pollution – Since cinemas are indoors, it can often be crowded and poorly ventilated. When there is no adequate ventilation, pollutants can collect and concentrations can become harmful. These can lead to health problems such as shortness of breath, dizziness, asthma, sick building syndrome, and lung diseases.

Decreased comfort – when bad odor, high concentrations of carbon dioxide, dust, mold, and other pollutants are present in the air within cinemas, this can have considerable impacts on guest experience and on the productivity of staff. Poor guest experience due to filthy air can lead to bad publicity, poor employee engagement, and delayed business growth.

What to do

Increase ventilation – The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) suggested opening windows and doors to release stale indoor air and welcome fresher air from the outdoors. Cinema halls must open all ventilation outlets before and after movie screenings.

Sanitize the touchpoints of customers – conduct routine cleaning and wiping of surfaces, objects, and areas that people have frequent contact with. Doing so will help minimize the spread of germs and viruses.

Keep trash bins always empty – make sure to have all the food packages, nappies, used drink containers, and other rubbish disposed of after every movie screening. Removing trash quickly will prevent bad odor and potentially harmful gasses from building up within the facility.

Use smart indoor air quality monitors – IAQ devices such as smart indoor air quality monitors can help cinema owners and staff improve indoor air quality. For example, the uHoo Aura indoor air quality monitor is a device that measures different factors that can affect indoor air. These factors include temperature, humidity, air pressure, carbon dioxide, formaldehyde, carbon monoxide and fine particulate matter. Cinema owners can use the IAQ measurements generated by the uHoo Aura device to adjust their indoor environments based on their needs. The adjustments performed can not only improve the air but can also prevent virus infection and enhance the health and safety of moviegoers and staff. Additionally, the adoption of smart indoor air quality monitors promotes good publicity and brand value knowing that the health and wellbeing of people inside cinemas are prioritized.