Singapore IAQ offers Indoor Air Quality Audit in Office/Commercial Buildings

PRLog (Press Release) - Feb 23, 2009 -
The adverse effects of poor indoor air quality is an issue of active scientific investigation because of its potential health and perceptual implications with consequent increase in sick building syndrome (SBS) intensities, deterioration in work performance. These effects are translatable to substantial economic loss, commensurate with the scale of a country’s knowledge-based economic activity performed in the indoor environment.

Sources of pollutants

Copier/printer room (Ozone, VOCs, and other particulates); Storage/Cleaning room (Cleaning products, pesticides, herbicides, non HEPA vacuum etc); Conference room (VOCs arising from furniture and makers, particulates from Chalk, Improper air exchange, carbon dioxide build-up, etc); Manufacturing room (Improper ventilation rates, temperature extremes, VOCs, particulates, etc); Office room (VOCs  generated from furnishing, Plants, applied or tracked pesticides, Computers generating VOCs/Ozone/Particulates, etc); Bathroom (VOCs generated from air fresheners and cleaning products, sewage gas, water leaks resulting into mold/bacterial growth); Break room (Cooking odours, tobacco smoke, allergen e.g. cockroach/mouse/rat); Cooling tower (Legionnaire disease, elevated humidity,  etc);  Intake vent (Intake of contaminated air/exhaust entrainment, improper or lack of filtration, improper sizing; Exhaust vent (Entrainment into air intake vents, excessive exhaust causing the structure to have negative pressure, improper sizing); Cubicle room (Computers generating VOCs/Ozone, furniture generating VOCs, etc). Other source of pollutants are trash containers, loading dock, cubicle room, ceiling plenum, people, duct work/ventilations, carpeting/flooring,  etc.


Can good IAQ leads to high productive and high economic revenue?

David P. Callan, director of sustainable design and high performance building technology at Syska Hennessy Group in New York City summaries studies that shown how improving indoor air quality can increase productivity and economic revenue in office. They as follows:

Study #1: In a survey of 100 U.S. office buildings, 23 percent of office workers experienced frequent symptoms of Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) such as respiratory ailments, allergies and asthma. The impact has been usually hidden in sick days, lower productivity and medical cost, but the economic impact is enormous, with an estimated decrease in productivity around 2 percent nationwide, resulting in an annual cost to the United States of approximately $60 billion.

Study #2: William Fisk from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California established a baseline for quantifying benefits from improved IAQ and demonstrated the economic impacts of increased productivity. Findings are showing that improvement in IAQ can: Reduce SBS symptoms by 20 to 50 percent, with estimated savings of $10 to $100 billion; Reduce asthma by 8 to 25 percent, with estimated savings of $1 to $4 billion; Reduce other respiratory illnesses by 23 to 76 percent, with estimated savings of $6 to $14 billion; Improve office worker productivity by 0.5 to 5 percent, with estimated savings of $20 to $200 billion

Study #3: Bjarne Olsen, chairperson for the International Centre for Indoor Environment and Energy (ICIEE) in Denmark, indicated that improved thermal comfort, reduction in indoor pollutants, and enhanced ventilation rates and effectiveness can increase productivity by 5 to 10 percent. Conversely, the research also indicates that a 10 percent decrease in tenant satisfaction with IAQ results in a 1 percent drop in productivity.

Study #4: Pawel Wargocki, also from the ICIEE, conducted three separate studies showing an increase of productivity at 5 percent or more through IAQ improvements.


Conclusion

Our Mission at IAQ Consultants Pte Ltd is to provide office/commercial buildings with practical, cost-effective solutions to Indoor Air Quality problems, and help office/commercial buildings achieve sustainable and safer indoor working and living environments.  


References
Study #1: William J. Fisk, “Health and Productivity Gains from Better Indoor Environments” in The Role of Emerging Energy-Efficient Technology in Promoting Workplace Productivity and Health, a report by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, February 2002;
Study #2: William J. Fisk, “How IEQ Affects Health, Productivity,” ASHRAE Journal, May 2002;
Study #3: Bjarne W. Olsen, “Indoor Environment — Health, Comfort and Productivity,” Clima 2005 Lausanne, 8th REHVA World Congress, Switzerland, Oct. 9-12, 2005;
Study #4: Pawel Wargocki, “Making the Case for IAQ,” ASHRAE IAQ Applications, Fall 2002.


For more information on Indoor Air Quality, please visit http://www.iaqsg.com
Need Professional Assistance?

Please feel free to contact us @ Tel: 65- 62419443 or email info@iaqsg.com if you are interested in having your indoor air tested or audited to monitor the Indoor Air Quality in your environment.