SALT LAKE CITY — Ever heard of an air economizer? It’s something some HVAC systems have, and a recent study The University of Utah found in certain conditions these systems could impact indoor air quality.

“We get different kinds of pollution events here, especially wildfire smoke, winter time inversions and dust,” said Kerry Kelly, Associate Professor in Chemical Engineering At The University Of Utah

The College of Engineering teamed up with facilities management to put their research into action throughout Salt Lake City’s campus. “We spend about 80% of our time indoors, we find that wildfire smoke has the biggest impact on indoor air quality,” said Kelly.

Kelly explained that one of the key takeaways was the type of HVAC system that impacts indoor air quality. “Something called an air economizer we found that under certain conditions those can really dry in a lot of wildfire smoke,” said Kelly.

She explained what an air economizer does: “It’s more common on commercial buildings and it’s a really good strategy that can be really efficient. So, for example, you know it’s kind of hot here in the summer but at 3 o’clock in the morning the temperature is beautiful so at 3 o’clock in the morning, it can pull in more outdoor air because you spent a lot less energy conditioning.”

She explained it’s a good way to save energy, but not so great if it’s bringing in pollution.

So, what can you do then? “Particular matter sensors are pretty good. I mean it gives you a relative indication of what your indoor air quality,” said Kelly.

She also uses portable air filters, which you can find just about anywhere. “They can be really effective but if you decide to do one of these portable air filters, make sure that you only get air filtration. You just want a simple filtration device,” said Kelly.

The Utah Runnin’ Utes have extended an offer to five-star recruit Baba Oladotun, who’s considered by credible recruiting sites to be one of the best high school players in the country.

A product of James Hubert Blake High School (Maryland), Oladotun is ranked by 247Sports Composite and ESPN as the No. 1 prospect in the class of 2027. It’s no surprise, then, that his recruitment has been heating up over the past few months, with offers flying in from schools in the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and Big East. Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan and UCLA are among the schools that have joined the recruiting mix early.

Oladotun hasn’t been on any visits yet. He’s coming off an impressive run at the Nike EYBL Session 2 in Memphis, where the 6-foot-9, 175-pound forward showcased his combo guard skillset and shotmaking in front of several college coaches while suiting up for Team Durant’s U17 squad. In eight AAU games, Oladotun averaged 12.5 points and 5.3 rebounds while shooting 48.1% from the field.

Alex Jensen and his Utah coaching staff have yet to land a commitment beyond their 2025 recruiting class, which includes three-star forward Kendyl Sanders and 6-foot-5 guard Alvin Jackson III. Landing a player of Oladotun’s caliber would be quite the foundational piece for Jensen and company to build the Utes’ future around.

MORE UTAH NEWS & ANALYSIS

HEBER, Utah — A crash between a Nissan Xterra SUV and a semi truck killed one person in Heber City on Tuesday, with delays on Highway 40 expected for several hours.

Highway 40 is currently reduced to one lane at milepost 40, according to the Utah Highway Patrol.

Utah Highway Patrol says at 8:15 a.m., the Nissan attempted to make a left-hand turn to go eastbound on Highway 40. A semi truck traveling westbound on the highway t-boned the Nissan.

The driver of the SUV died from their injuries at the scene. No other injuries were reported.

Stay with fox13now.com and FOX 13 News for the latest on this breaking news story.