Breathe easy

Breathe easy: Frequently Asked Questions about indoor air quality

By Michael Moran

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The global COVID-19 pandemic shined a new light on the question of air quality in indoor spaces. Previously associated with issues like radon, mold or the buildup of carbon dioxide, COVID-19 emphasized that poorly ventilated spaces or environments where temperature and humidity are improperly calibrated will accelerate the spread of viral illness, sometimes with deadly results.

Today, employers and landlords are being asked about the quality of the air inside offices, factories, residential settings and other spaces, and CEOs, HR directors and corporate legal staff worry about liability, absenteeism, retention and recruitment problems that flow from sub-standard air quality. Happily, technology exists today in the form of Internet of Things (IoT) air quality sensors that can identify poor air, help remediate the issues before they affect comfort, productivity, safety and the overall satisfaction of building occupants. Here are some commonly asked questions answered by prominent experts in IoT, expert regulators, air quality and data science.

Why does indoor air quality matter?

It’s a well-known fact that the amount of ventilation and fresh air brought into a room has an impact on occupant health. According to the United States EPA, poor indoor air quality (IAQ) has been linked to symptoms like headaches, fatigue, trouble concentrating, and irritation of the eyes, nose, throat and lungs. In a workplace environment, this manifests itself as a drop in productivity, absenteeism and in severe cases, can lead to legal action or labor strife. Indoor air pollution is a leading risk factor for premature death worldwide. In fact, it is amongst the top 10 leading cause of deaths, according to a 2019 study conducted by Our World in Data.

There are many factors that affect a building’s air quality. These factors include problems controlling temperature, high or low humidity, and other environmental factors. The World Health Organization (WHO) has developed guidelines for IAQ, the guidelines are relative to a certain number of pollutants, present indoor, for which human health effects were considerably high.

While there is no definitive list of standards kept globally, there are clear recommendations for improving a building’s indoor air quality. Generally, this comes down to measuring exposure in “parts per million” or ppm to dangerous elements, for instance, carbon dioxide, which typically builds up during the workplace over the course of the day. What constitutes “safe” air varies, as a quick look at varying US standards demonstrates.

A study conducted by MDPI outlines the steps some countries, like the United Kingdom, have taken to regulate health and environmental standards like CO2 exposure. In others, the standards vary. In the United States, for instance, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) set the exposure limit for carbon monoxide is 50 ppm, while the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has established a recommended exposure limit (REL) for carbon monoxide of 35 ppm. Some EU Member States, for instance France, Portugal, Finland, Austria, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and Lithuania, have started to adopt specific guide/reference/action values, IAQ—in some cases enforced in the legislative acts of these countries. Such as, national standards and legislation for IAQ, protocols and guides for self-diagnostic activities, as well as training and information programs specifically for businesses.

What’s polluting the air?

Some of the most common indoor air pollutants include carbon monoxide, mold, chemicals, and other dangerous byproducts and compounds. Carbon dioxide is generally produced by human occupancy, with densely occupied spaces generally experiencing the most rapid buildup. Beyond that, there are things like cleaning supplies, furnace and cooking appliances that may vent gas, paints, insecticides, and other commonly used products introduce many different chemicals directly into the indoor air. Outdoor air, too, can be a contributor in some places. That means it’s not always as easy as opening a window. A busy street means vehicle exhaust. A manufacturing city – Beijing, for instance, or one where energy is dependent on burning coal, have high levels of particulate matter that can damage lungs. And forest fires, such as those experienced in recent years in the US West, the Mediterranean basin and Australia, can create outdoor air pollution that far outstrips the problems inside a building.

What are some air quality standards that an organization should strive for?

    • Occupant health: Ever noticed an increase of yawns during a long meeting in a small and stuffy room? Studies have confirmed that indoor air quality impacts occupant productivity, decision making and attention spans. Research cited by the EPA has also shown that poor air quality can lead to “sick building syndrome,” which occurs when building occupants experience similar symptoms after entering a particular building, with symptoms diminishing or disappearing after they leave the building. It’s also been found that productivity drops as much as 25% in buildings where CO2 is allowed to build up unnoticed and un-remediated.
    • Efficiency and Sustainability: Optimizing your ventilation and air conditioning involves implementing a system to deliver needed heating and cooling at energy-efficient levels, which will improve your bottom line. ‘Green Buildings’ are becoming increasingly popular for businesses due to their energy efficiency and enhancement on indoor air quality. Environmental expert, Dr. Andy Dengel of the UK’s Building Research Establishment (BRE) highlighted energy efficiency and ventilation as the top priorities when implementing an air quality monitoring system into a building during his recent appearance on Manifest Density. Dengel stated:

    “It really all comes down to having a bit of a balance between Energy efficiency [and] ventilation, because more and more we’re seeing very airtight buildings relying on mechanical ventilation. And if that doesn’t work properly or isn’t designed properly, you can have problems.”

    Coal mines once used canaries to warn them of the presence of deadly but odorless gas buildup. When the canary died, it was past time to get out! Happily, technology today offers a less dramatic and far more effective solution: Indoor air quality sensors.

How can you assess your building’s air quality?

While these efforts may sound expensive, there is research to support that taking control of your buildings air quality can lead to savings in the long run. According to the Harvard Business Review, the benefits of improved ventilation alone are projected to be anywhere from $6,500 – $7,500 per person-per year.

So, where do you start?

Microshare primarily deploys sensors to track the most important air quality indicators such as CO2 levels, humidity, temperature, and other variables that have a direct bearing on safety and productivity. EverSmart Air, our turnkey indoor air quality solution, produces this data in real-time to alert facilities managers to any problems and reassure occupants.

EverSmart Air creates the data that identifies all these issues, giving facilities professionals the dashboards, industry benchmarks and other tools they need to mitigate problems and provide occupants with peace of mind.

What are the liability risks to employers of poor indoor air quality?

As an employer, it is important to mitigate any risk of liability when it comes to an employee’s health and well-being. Workplace air quality that is poor or below the set legal standards can pose serious health risks to workers and can cause severe medical conditions, such as emphysema or various other types of obstructive lung diseases. Being aware of your buildings air quality is the first step, but the most important measure is remedying the issue.

The U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) helps to oversee and enforce state policies on workplace air quality standards while also providing guidance for the type of legal action workers can take if their company has exposed them to poor air quality that resulted in health complications. Legalmatch.com cites economic damages, non-economic damages, punitive damages, and/or an injunction as a few types of civil lawsuits that companies are vulnerable to.

Simply put, workers are entitled to clean air at work up to the level that is required by federal and/or state laws.

By using an array of different IAQ controls, businesses will have the ability to take a range of actions all while measuring the effectiveness and cost implications of their efforts. Ventilation, moisture, and air pollution sources (dirty carpet, led paint, chemical exposure, etc.) are the most basic pain points found in a building. Implementing preventative measures for these things will require companies to assess their buildings before deploying solutions. According to a study conducted by the Harvard Business Review, tracking Health Performance Indicators (HPIs) can be used to measure indoor environmental quality. Some HPIs can include, building composition/design, space utilization, and temperature optimization.

My air quality is poor, what do I do now?

The use of CO2 as a proxy for the proper management of indoor environments is something Microshare has been advocating for years.

Studies show that calibrating HVAC systems to optimize temperature and humidity levels hinders the spread of infections and keeps CO2 buildup from reaching harmful levels. This is something our clients measure with a sensor solution called Environmental Monitoring, and it provides vital data to building operators that they need to take steps to address the problem.

Sometimes these steps can be as simple as opening a window or redirecting HVAC ventilation toward areas that are used most often. But they can also be expensive. For instance, IAQ data can indicate that an aging HVAC system simply is not capable of properly calibrating healthy levels of ventilation. The US Environmental Protection Agency, which recommends that air quality sensors be used in any space that will be densely populated. They define three broad actions that should be taken to deal with poor air quality.

  • Ventilation: This is the most obvious move when air quality is sub-standard, and it can be easy to increase natural ventilation, such as through windows and doors. In a large building, though, particularly older buildings without windows that open, this sometimes means reconfiguring ducts and possibly increasing energy use. Reconfiguring or even replacing an HVAC system designed before the importance of indoor air quality was widely understood can be very expensive. But what’s proven to be more expensive are:
    • The liability claims of aggrieved employees
    • the retention and recruitment problems stemming from poor air quality
    • the productivity loss that academic studies have chronicled in high CO2 environments
    • the higher sick day rates suffered by companies that don’t control humidity – and thus infection spread – properly.
  • Source Control: Ventilation may be the most obvious thing to adjust when air quality is poor but understanding where emissions might be coming from can be just as important – and cost nothing to address. Obviously, human activity will invariably create carbon emissions as we exhale. But buildings of all sizes have other sources of carbon, particulate matter and humidity. Some building materials and furnishings can deteriorate and emit asbestos-containing insulation. Newly installed flooring, upholstery or carpet often produces a chemical emission. Cleaning products or industrial solvents also have emissions. And central heating and cooling systems can produce excess moisture that defeats efforts to control temperature and humidity.
  • Air Filters and Cleaners: EPA is skeptical that this idea ­– marketed by manufacturers as a silver bullet – does much to help.

“A very efficient collector with a low air-circulation rate will not be effective, nor will a cleaner with a high air-circulation rate but a less efficient collector,” the agency says.

While such filters will remove some things from the air ­– pollution elements like coal dust, cigarette smoke and other particulates – the agency sees little evidence they can help with CO2 or viruses.

In addition, with extensive use of CO2 sensors, air quality managers may benefit from risk pattern discovery that allows them to take early, preventative action to clear high-use spaces to maintain health and safety.

How should I share this complex data with tenants or staff or residents without creating a lot of unwarranted concern?

“By and large, we would never recommend just putting sensors in and on Day 1 displaying data on a dashboard or in an app for everyone,” says Tom Jackson, Chief Strategy and Data Officer, Microshare and a co-developer of EverSmart Air. “One of our most valued goals at Microshare is the democratization of data, but you can point to countless examples – the way people hoarded toilet paper at the start of the pandemic for instance – where a little data out of context can cause panic. Our approach is to take the EverSmart Air client on a journey.

A first step is the deploy sensors, ingest the data into our platform and examine the results. Quick, easy remediation can often move the needle quite a bit – simple things like seeking the sources of poor air quality, which could be as simple as a vent that is pulling in pollution from outside or a loading dock with trucks venting exhaust into a space. Slight adjustments to HVAC systems, opening windows or doors to create cross ventilation, all these steps can be tried in this first phase.

The second phase may involve deeper changes. One source of poor air quality can be density: Humans create a great deal of carbon, and if they’re all in the same confined space, the CO2 and humidity levels are going to go up all day long. That will lead to issues in the afternoons that might be remediated by reconfiguring spaces or opening them up. If problems persist, there may be an issue with HVAC and other ventilation systems that need to be addressed by landlords or Building Management Systems (BMS) contractors.

It’s only in the third phase, probably three months or more down the line, that we would recommend sharing real-time data on an app or a lobby dashboard. After all, the reality is that few people were concerned about this before the pandemic. The problem doesn’t go away just by identifying it. There are steps that must be followed before you can start bragging about the quality of the air in your building.”

Michael Moran | CMO, Director of Risk & Sustainability | MMoran@microshare.io

Briana Ramos | Digital Marketing Manager | BRamos@microshare.io

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