ACR Journal

CMYK / .ai CMYK / .ai CMYK / .ai acrjournal.uk INDOOR AIR QUALITY We’ve seen this in the shift in regulation across the UK: There are ongoing calls for a reduction in the amount of tra c around schools as it can be harmful for children, more cities are developing low-emission zones to reduce air pollution, and an increasing number of people are investing in electric vehicles. On the flipside of the coin, the quality of air within buildings has been given far less scrutiny and has often been overlooked, even though everyone now knows about the concept of Sick Building Syndrome, which sees people su€ering from chronic conditions as a result of inadequate cleaning, poor ventilation or building materials that are harmful if breathed in. Put simply, not enough has been done to ensure that the air in the spaces we use most often is up to a high enough standard, and this can have a serious impact on our health. Why is indoor air quality so important? We spend the vast majority of our lives indoors – around 92%. This means that the majority of the air we breathe is already inside our homes and o ces. With the level of chemicals and pollutants in o ce buildings reaching up to 2-5 times higher indoors than outdoors, it’s more important than ever that we take IAQ seriously. This situation is worsening due to growing urbanisation, as the UK’s cities continue to expand as hubs for employment and living. This results in more densely built areas and higher levels of emissions from the transport. Looking at this alongside the host of new building regulations that require greater air tightness in buildings, there is a compelling case for looking at ways of improving the quality of air inside occupied spaces. Mark Grayston, Head of Product Marketing at Mitsubishi Electric explores the intrinsic link between the air we breathe and our health and wellbeing. Why understanding and improving indoor air quality is so vital to our health 15 Currently we are surrounded by harmful chemicals, with what are known as Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) everywhere; from the materials used to build the actual space and the furniture we sit on, right through to the clothes we wear. And don’t forget the cleaning products that we now constantly use to sanitise buildings and make them safe. So how can we improve IAQ? The key to maintaining good indoor air quality is removing polluted air from a building and replacing it with fresh, filtered air. It sounds like a simple process, but without the right kind of guidance, this is often overlooked. Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) can transfer an average of 80% of the energy, or often more, from outgoing stale air to heat incoming fresh air, which means less energy is required to heat the building compared to non-heat recovering ventilation systems. When paired with building management systems, this can also be used to regulate air flow throughout an entire building. Mechanical ventilation can also deliver a slow but constant movement of air throughout the building, unlike natural ventilation, which delivers uncontrolled air supply. Any air flow management shouldn’t be looked at in isolation. When placed alongside a system of sensors, they can pick up on fluctuating in-building environmental conditions and improve air quality. These are especially useful as a built environment can change, and conditions and requirements within buildings can evolve. Keeping a close eye on internal air quality There are already measures in place to calculate air quality outdoors around the world, such as the US Air Quality Index which ranks air quality from Good to Hazardous and is regulated by the Clean Air Act – but these measures focus heavily on external air quality. There is currently limited guidance around the impact of indoor air quality specifically. In addition to providing builders, installers and the public with a better understanding of why indoor air quality is so important and how to improve it, there are now calls for an o cial index to monitor IAQ. In the UK, IAQUK has developed a IAQ Rating Index which ranks IAQ from Excellent to Inadequate and is calling for the introduction of a standard, but it is not currently a recognised index. With a set standard to assess and rank the quality of air, o ces, hotels, restaurants and other spaces, it will be possible to assure occupants that they are in a safe environment, and empower them to make informed choices about the air they choose to breathe.