Maintaining it right

How do HVAC system impact indoor air quality?

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Living and working in spaces that are safe, secure and sanitary take precedence over location and other factors that were important in the prepandemic world.

Sick building syndrome along with poor indoor air quality were identified by the World Health Organization as major concerns over 30 years ago; however, these issues continue to threaten the health of office workers, school children and residents all over the world.

In fact, some building interiors, once thought of as safe havens from outside air pollution may be more polluted than the surrounding environment.

The pandemic has changed priorities and so the public will increasingly look for healthy buildings, specifically as offices are partially re-opening. For the safety of the general public, factors such as indoor air quality should be top of mind for real estate developers and owners when they plan to develop the cities of the future.

The case for more healthy buildings

Although the term is not new, there is much debate on what comprises a healthy building.

The industry has broadly agreed that a healthy building is a space that facilitates the mental, social and physical well-being of its occupants.

With 40 years of scientific research from Harvard’s healthy buildings lab, it has determined that there are nine foundations of a healthy building, namely – ventilation, air quality, thermal health, moisture, dusts and pests, safety and security, water quality, noise, lighting and views.

Real estate developers are excellent at addressing most of the foundations on this list; however, often overlook the first and most important items – ventilation and air quality.