The Path to Better Indoor Air Quality-- Improved Monitoring for CO2 Ventilation and More
Getting back to workplaces, restaurants and schools goes beyond the simple reopening of buildings; it involves innovative solutions to provide appropriate air quality monitoring, ventilation and filtration.
- By Mary Furto
- Oct 01, 2021
Whether you have employees returning to in-person work or students going back to in-person learning, monitoring and maintaining indoor air quality (IAQ) is critical. More people are paying attention to air quality in the spaces we use for work, school, entertainment and travel, and building owners are looking for ways to create cleaner air to instill occupant confidence.
According to a 2021 Honeywell survey, data shows that the COVID-19 pandemic will likely have a lasting impact on facility management and operations. Seventy-five percent of surveyed U.S. facility managers indicate that COVID-19 prompted their facility to rethink its modes of operation. COVID-19 is also driving facility managers to adjust their priorities and investments. For example, 62 percent are more likely to invest in indoor air quality optimization and other healthy building solutions than in pre-pandemic times. Getting back to workplaces, restaurants and schools goes beyond the simple reopening of buildings. It involves innovative solutions to provide appropriate air quality monitoring, ventilation and filtration.
The Importance of Good Air Quality
All over the United States, decision makers are taking steps to make evidence-based, long-term improvements to IAQ to help reassure people that they have taken steps to make their spaces safer, not only to reopen public spaces responsibly, but also to keep them open.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) studies consistently show that indoor air pollution ranks among the top environmental risks to public health and indoor levels of pollutants may be two to five times higher than outdoor levels. As the colder fall and winter months are ahead of us and more people will rely on indoor gathering spaces rather than outdoor, it is important to look into ways to improve IAQ.
This article originally appeared in the October 2021 issue of Occupational Health & Safety.