Houston First Corp., which owns and operates the George R. Brown Convention Center, has installed three mobile units of a new coronavirus-killing air purifier in the center’s new 5,250-sq-ft broadcast facility.

The venue's Avenida Houston Virtual Studio, which opens next month, represents the beginning of efforts, including visitor screening systems at main entrances, to respond to the challenges of COVID-19. The studio will offer on-site virtual or hybrid conference and event hosting capabilities.

The installation is a joint project of HFC and Monzer Hourani, founder of Integrated Viral Protection and CEO of Medistar Corp. IVP is a partnership with three manufacturers: Dust Free LP, Engineering CPR and Mexico-based Instalaciones y Especialidades Metalicas SA de CV. The group's mobile product is also being deployed by the Slidell Independent School District in Texas.

In July, IVP introduced the biodefense filtration technology, shown to eliminate 99.999% of SARS-CoV-2 and 99.8% of anthrax spores and other airborne contaminants through a heated nickel-foam filter that is said to have little impact on the surrounding air temperature.

The Hourani invention, named the Biodefense Indoor Air Protection System, is based on recent research at the Superconductivity Center of Texas at the University of Houston, the Galveston National Laboratory and the Texas A&M Engineering and Experiment Station.