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FROM THE EDITOR
“Your Office Air Is Killing You” screamed the cover of Newsweek a few weeks ago. Aaaaah! We're all going to die! Okay, deep breath...(well, unless your IAQ is poor, then don't breathe deeply). As you can probably surmise, the story is about how poor indoor air quality can have a hugely negative affect on the health and performance of building occupants. It also delves into how poor IAQ disproportionately affects buildings (schools, especially) in low-income areas, and about how “poisonous indoor air is almost completely ignored by the press.” (Hey, we resent that!)
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It’s a solid piece – maybe a little alarmist for my taste – but it’s definitely good in that it brings awareness to the general news-reading public about how important good IAQ is to a high-performing building and its occupants’ health. The piece mentions a new study that links good indoor air with cognitive function. “Better air led people to make better decisions and to be more productive,” says the article, quoting the study’s lead scientist.
The solution, according to the article, to getting good IAQ is a combination of good design in the first place, and a combination of good ventilation, filters, and sensors to monitor IAQ.
Of course, good operations and maintenance on a long-term basis, including periodically measuring IAQ (a strategy not done frequently) is also critical. Most FMs are acutely aware of the importance of IAQ, not the least because if their buildings’ IAQ is poor, it’s one of the biggest sources of complaint calls.
And that brings us to one of the more important takeaways from the article: Getting good IAQ is a constant process that isn’t ever finished. Improvement is always possible. In that regard, it’s certainly like most other high-performance strategies.
As always, I’m interested to hear from you. What have you found to be most effective for ensuring good indoor air quality?
Cheers,
Greg Zimmerman, editor
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IN THE NEWS
ASHRAE Updates IAQ Standard
ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2016, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality, sets minimum ventilation rates and other requirements for commercial and institutional buildings.
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