Page 19 - Climate Control News magazine February 2023

Indoor Air Quality
There needs to be a greater focus on public policy and indoor health.
“This can increase indoor pollution concen- trations from indoor sources if there is not also adequate ventilation for indoor pollutants to leave the building.”
Professor Whitty said there was a range of disparities in exposure risks to both indoor and external air pollution.
“THE CASE FOR INCREASED INVESTMENT IN VENTILATION SOLUTIONS IS PERSUASIVE.”
These disparities included evidence of a sig- nificant increase in concentration of contami- nants such as PM2.5, NO2 and VOCs in low income housing following retrofit work that has increased air tightness in buildings.
“In homes that are not owner-occupied, resi- dents may have less agency to improve indoor air quality, for example, through interventions to reduce damp and mould. There is evidence that children growing up in homes with mould are between 1.5 and three times more prone to coughing and wheezing,” he said.
The Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) came out in support of the call to action.
BESA chief executive David Frise praised Professor Whitty for taking on board several of the lessons learned about the role of building ventilation during the pandemic.
“Poorly ventilated indoor spaces were shown to significantly increase the risk of infection transmission,” Frise said. “Better ventilation and air filtration are also proven to enhance health and well-being (including mental health),
WHITE HOUSE SUMMIT
The US White House recently hosted a summit on improving Indoor Air Quality.
It included public health officials and ventilation experts and highlighted the need to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
The administration launched the Clean Air in Buildings Challenge with a clear set of recommendations all building owners and operations can follow to improve indoor air quality. The US government has launched a range of initiatives toimproveindoorenvironments.
At the same time the National Energy Management Institute Inc. (NEMI) has created the Better Air in Buildings web site to provide building owners and managers with the information they need to find an area contractor who can perform ventilation verification and indoor air quality assessments, repairs, and upgrades.
housing is located near busy or congested roads, or industrial sites,” he said.
“Indoor activities of cooking, heating and use of building materials, cleaning and personal care products can emit NO2, carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter (PM) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) indoors.
“These indoor pollutants can also be impacted by higher occupancy levels in a build- ing, along with a lack of adequate ventilation.”
Adequate ventilation can be defined both in terms of the use of mechanical solutions, as well as passive measures such as opening windows or doors.
“Both of these measures can conversely increase heat loss and also allow outdoor pollut- ants into a building without additional design consideration,” Whitty said.
Other important considerations that deter- mine IAQ levels of a building were measures needed to improve energy efficiency.
“These can include the increased use of insu- lation and other methods to make properties more airtight,” Whitty said.
improve sleep quality, and boost productivity. “The case for increased investment in venti- lation solutions is persuasive and the interven- tion of the country’s top medical official could be a real turning point for investment in venti- lation as it should make anyone who has responsibility for conditions inside buildings sit
up and take notice.”
World Health Organisation (WHO) child
health advocate Rosamund Adoo Kissi-Debrah said that people would continue to die unless governments and the ventilation industry worked together to improve IAQ.
The WHO has established that 3.8 million premature deaths worldwide are linked to poor indoor air every year out of a total of 8.7 million from general air pollution.
The need to improve indoor air quality has created a major engineering challenge.
CLIMATE CONTROL NEWS
FEBRUARY 2023
19