BY: Jacqueline Ammah
Can better air quality reduce your buildings operating costs? A proactive approach to indoor air quality (IAQ) can save you money through improved heating and cooling efficiencies; improved office environment, occupant morale, and increased employee productivity. If you are a property manager, improved IAQ will also help make your building more marketable to prospective tenants.
Historically, if IAQ was a concern, the focus was on the industrial sector where standards were established to limit occupational exposure to toxic airborne contaminants. Today, research scientists and health professionals recognize poor IAQ as a broader public health problem. It is also common knowledge among members of the community that indoor environments contribute to human exposures to airborne pollutants and can consequently affect the health of building occupants.
Over the years, in North America, there has been a progressive movement towards the construction of tighter buildings; they are better insulated, and the inflow of outside fresh air has been reduced. Buildings today are climate-controlled to produce moist and warm microclimates with high humidity levels and temperatures. Ultimately, as recent reports from the Laboratory Centre for Disease Control and Health Canada have shown, the prevalence of IAQ-related health problems among Canadians has steadily increased. The increase results partly from the energy crisis of the early 1970’s, which drove heating costs higher and forced building managers to reduce the rate of outside air exchange. The trend toward tighter buildings, coupled with increasing use of building materials and furnishings that give off potentially irritating and harmful vapours, has led to higher concentrations of airborne contaminants indoors.
The resulting health effects related to poor IAQ include conditions ranging from reversible respiratory infections and sick building syndrome – which is generally characterized as a loosely defined set of respiratory symptoms experienced by a substantial number of occupations in a building – to chronic and debilitating life changing conditions such as asthma and potentially even cancer. Knowledge of these health effects has aroused the concerns of public health authorities, those concerned with building standards and home construction, property managers and the general public.
In 1995, Health Canada published exposure guidelines established by the Federal-Provincial Working Group on IAQ to propose guidelines for the concentrations of selected airborne contaminants indoors, taking into account such factors as the sensitivity of groups at special risk. Air sampling can determine the level of contaminants in air. Air quality testing and analysis performed by a reputable air quality firm can quickly diagnose whether your building has an indoor air quality problem. However, a proactive approach to indoor air quality can reduce allegations of poor air quality.
There are several reasons to put an indoor air quality management program in place including:
Marketing – the Clean Building concept
If a property manager puts resources into maintenance of good IAQ, then this can be used in marketing to potential tenants. The hotel industry provides a good example. In 1998, Philadelphia’s Sheraton Rittenhouse Square proclaimed itself North Americas first environmentally smart hotel. The hotel air was filtered at twice the rate of the industry standard and the hotel furnishings had been lacquered to prevent emissions of volatiles. Such innovative marketing approaches can also be used to retain present tenants, especially if the tenants are image-conscious and have clients visiting their premises often.
Avoiding law suits
Although a number of IAQ-related lawsuits have gone through the courts in the United States, the less-litigious situation in Canada has not produced as many legal actions. Most judges in these cases look for due diligence on the part of the property manager. An IAQ management plan can only serve you well with judges in these situations.
Productivity
Intuitively, a buildings business occupants should become more productive with better working conditions, including IAQ. Again, this could be promoted in marketing and there is also some evidence that backs up this theory. At the Indoor Air 1990 conference, calculations presented suggested that where productivity has been measured accurately, the effect has been surprisingly large (5 – 15% of salary costs, but on occasion up to 50%) whereas the costs of providing controlled environments are usually only 1%.
Cost Avoidance
The expense and effort required to prevent most IAQ problems is much less than required to address problems after they develop. Adherence to good engineering standards as presented by ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers), in addition, can result in heating and cooling efficiencies. A proactive approach to IAQ can avoid costly retrofits as well. In British Columbia, the Ministry of Labour now requires that all occupied buildings which are workplaces comply with ASHRAE guidelines with regards to IAQ and ventilation. If other provinces follow suit the property manager would be well advised to take a proactive approach to IAQ.
Taking Control: Establishing an Indoor Air Quality Program
A proactive approach is highly recommended in managing IAQ. Such an approach involves recognition of potential sources of air contaminants and the establishment of a management system to control such problems. In a business setting, such systems are often part of an ISO 14000 management system. Typically, an IAQ management system includes:
- A policy statement,
- A management plan,
- The designation of an IAQ manager,
- Detailed building operation and maintenance procedures,
- Complaint response mechanism, and
- Education and training.
Knowledge of the sources of indoor pollutants, of course, is invaluable to taking a proactive approach to dealing with IAQ. For example, proper management of air circulation from garages and traffic activity at loading docks can reduce carbon monoxide infiltration into buildings. New carpets or furnishings can be aired out either by the manufacturer, or in the building by increasing the heating and ventilation rate before occupancy in order to bake out volatile compounds.
The heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system should be regularly checked for dust loading and mould growth. As well, the installation of IAQ monitoring systems throughout the building, usually linked with computerized HVAC control systems, is becoming more popular. These systems provide continuous records of some of the main components of IAQ (temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide) and allow feedback to the HVAC controller to regulate IAQ.
The laboratory is accredited by CALA to ISO/IEC 17025 for specific tests on the scope of accreditation.