Excerpts from an article written by EES President, Tom Petersen, and presented at a recent breakfast seminar and at a National Environmental Balancing Bureau recertification seminar –
“According to a recent American Industrial Hygiene Association membership survey – the world’s largest association of its kind, representing nearly 12,500 occupational and environmental health and safety professionals – indoor air quality (IAQ) is the most serious issue facing today’s American worker.
. . . IAQ, or the indoor environment of any building, is the result of a combination of numerous catalysts, including the site, climate, building system (original design, later modifications, and mechanical systems), construction techniques, outdoor air quality, contaminant sources and their strengths (building materials, furnishings, moisture, processes and activities within, and outdoor sources), building occupants, and the design, operation, and maintenance of heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems.
. . . Properly assessing and ensuring optimum IAQ is a complex, though not confounding, process.
. . . First and foremost, it is necessary to develop an IAQ Profile – a description of the features of the building’s structure, function, and occupancy that impact air quality – to serve as an owner’s manual or reference specific to the building.
. . . Because of the increasing correlation between the shared-air of commercial office environments and that of their adjoining light industrial/manufacturing plants, the approach to IAQ becomes even more complex and critical. Factors such as the wide variety of prevalent chemicals and the necessity for local exhaust ventilation to remove contaminants are of primary importance.
CONCLUSION – Achieving and maintaining adequately healthy Indoor Air Quality is an ongoing process of complex issues, considerations, and challenges, including –
sources of contaminants
HVAC system design and operation
building occupancy factors
IAQ Profiling, Diagnosis, and Management Planning
mitigating problems
hiring professional assistance as needed
When renovating or building new facilities, always consider IAQ – and the newest ventilation and filtration technologies and guidelines – in the design. And remember, Indoor Air Quality is a progressive process that can only yield optimum health, fiscal, and production benefits with the establishment of a comprehensive and continuing Preventative Maintenance Program.”
For a copy of the complete article, contact Tom Petersen of EES at (215) 704-1506 or tom@eesolutions.net
EES Provides Indoor Air Quality Services
Recent EES Indoor Air Quality projects completed or in progress include:
Emergency medical services facility IAQ survey and ventilation systems redesign
Pigment manufacturer ventilation systems review and air flow monitoring protocol
Hospital IAQ survey, including IAQ parameters, noise and illumination (2 locations)
Distribution warehouse IAQ survey, including HVAC review and smoke tube testing
Non-profit organization IAQ survey, including review of potential mold contamination
International embassy IAQ survey, including review of potential mold contamination
EES qualified environmental engineers and industrial hygienists can review your IAQ concerns and provide an Action Plan to mitigate your IAQ problems.
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