An independent scientific report published this week confirms that the decontamination unit is 99.999 per cent effective in killing an airborne test staphylococcus of the same genus as MRSA in less than two minutes and significantly reduced airborne spores similar to C. difficile in one hour*.

‘The unit mimics the natural purification properties of fresh air and sunlight which has been known to be a good thing in killing bacteria and viruses since the days of Florence Nightingale’ says Andrew Williams, director of BRE Ventures. ‘Out in the open air there is a natural reaction that produces hydroxyl radicals, these spell death to the bacteria – the fresh air reaction - found in high concentrations in forested, mountain areas is harmless to people. Using the device essentially means you take a walk in the park in terms of what you breath’ says Williams.

The nature of the equipment is that it is scalable from the size of a fan heater to major HVAC plant on the roof. Not only is the air decontaminated as it passes through the unit but the air from the equipment can be used to ‘wash’ hard-to-reach places, such as ceilings, fittings and ventilation ducts, killing bugs as it goes. ‘This gives a new meaning to ‘deep clean’ proposed by Gordon Brown as a way of dealing with those areas that cannot be dealt with by day-to-day cleaning – says Williams.

Tri- Air Developments, the company set up by BRE, Promanade and Inventa is now ready to take the idea to market.