Is Going to Work Making You Sick?

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Is Going to Work Making You Sick?

Commercial Indoor Air Quality

by is Huggins, greenerbuildings.com

http://greenerbuildings.com/feature/2008/11/26/is-work-making-you-

sick

November 26, 2008 –– American adults spend an average of 90 percent

of their time indoors, according to the U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency, which lists poor indoor air quality as the fourth

largest environmental threat to health in the country.

Indoor environments are often contaminated with pollutants sourced

from allergens from outside air or indoor materials, chemicals such

as radon, and moisture such as mold. The LEED rating system

dedicates an entire section of its guidelines to " Indoor

Environmental Quality, " which encompasses several aspects related to

indoor air quality or IAQ. And a number of health conditions are a

result of poor IAQ in commercial buildings.

Sick Building Syndrome, or SBS, is the name given to the condition

in which individuals suffer from health problems or symptoms

associated with the building in which they work or live. Typically,

the problems are more acute when the person is inside the building

and subside when they leave. Common symptoms include headaches,

fatigue, coughing, dizziness and nausea. People with asthma are

especially prone to SBS. According to the National Academy of

Sciences, more than 20 million people in the U.S suffer from asthma,

which accounts for nearly 2 million emergency room visits a year.

Other contaminants such as tobacco smoke and radon are leading

causes of lung cancer.

If IAQ is not maintained up to federal standards, companies may face

costly litigation from employees suffering from SBS and have to

contend with diminished worker productivity.

Employee complaints about indoor environments are becoming more

common due to increased awareness of the risks associated with poor

IAQ. The number of lawsuits related to IAQ are mounting as well.

The suits cover a variety of complaints, many of them related to

exposure to substances ranging from mold to toxic paint. In a

closely watched case, J.J. Acquisition Corp. v. Pacific Gulf

Properties filed in September 2000, a group of employees at a

California newspaper company sued their building management company

for $10 million. The workers claimed the company failed to prevent

or eliminate severe mold growth which they said caused them to

suffer from lung and sinus infections.

In terms of productivity, the EPA estimates that poor indoor air

costs the U.S. tens of billions of dollars each year in lost

productivity and medical expenses.

Building management companies and employers are increasingly willing

to spend the time and money to create and maintain a healthy indoor

environment to improve employee productivity and avoid costly

lawsuits -- a situation that often makes facility managers the first

line of defense for IAQ complaints.

However, according to industry experts, despite an expressed desire

on the part of companies to be proactive, many facility managers

lack knowledge of IAQ procedures. For example, when an employee

complains about thermal discomfort or health conditions that may be

caused from SBS, investigations should be conducted to identify the

source of the problem and address it as soon as possible. But some

facility managers ignore complaints. Others fail to detect or

anticipate problems. All of which can lead to costly and extensive

renovations — in addition to litigation and lost productivity —

because issues are neglected for so long.

Industry professionals urge property management companies to provide

education and training to managers as well as allocate a reasonable

budget for IAQ maintenance. The Indoor Air Quality Association

offers an IAQ Manager Certification course geared towards facility

managers to teach them the various disciplines of the industry.

Publications and guidelines issued by government, trade associations

and green advocacy groups have played a major role in increasing IAQ

awareness.

Resources include " An Office Building Occupant's Guide to Indoor Air

Quality " from the EPA. The American Lung Association, the World

Health Organization and the American Heart Association publish

statistics and other information on various health conditions

developed in workplaces due to poor IAQ, as well as develop

guidelines for improving IAQ.

In the area of green building, standards such as the U.S. Green

Building Council's Leadership in Energy Environmental Design, have

also furthered awareness of IAQ. Its inclusion in green building

guidelines and the importance placed on attributes affecting IAQ

have contributed to increased knowledge about the subject.

The three main factors to managing IAQ are source control, air

cleaning, and proper ventilation. Air cleaning — use of filters or

air purifiers — and ventilation products can improve IAQ as well as

reduce energy costs. Ventilation rates can be accelerated to

increase air flow and thus improve the quality of air.

When poor IAQ is recognized in any building, increasing ventilation

rates is one of the first steps that can be taken to reduce indoor

air pollutants, say industry professionals. They also say that poses

one of their largest challenges with IAQ in maintaining green

buildings: increasing ventilation rates without escalating energy

use. Solutions can include Energy Recovery Ventilators, called ERV,

and Heat Recovery Ventilation, or HRV, systems, which can reduce

energy loads from those associated with traditional air conditioning

systems.

Industry experts say the market for ERV and HRV systems in

commercial buildings has grown 25 percent in the past five years and

it's estimated that the market will double by 2012. Stepped up green

awareness has been the primary driver in market growth, said Jeff

Harnett with Lennox Industries, who added that increased awareness

in IAQ has been an indirect factor.

Among air filters, High Efficiency Particulate Air, or HEPA, filters

are considered to be the best on the market. They can remove at

least 99.97 percent of airborne particles as small as 0.3 microns

from indoor air. Other filters on the market usually capture 80 to

95 percent of air particulates.

of American Air Filter International, a manufacturer of

air filtration products, said her company has seen a significant

growth in air filtration products as result of new LEED guidelines,

but minimal growth from 2004 to 2008 in the market for commercial

HEPA filters. Products sales are the highest in the manufacturing

sector, including specialty manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, and

healthcare specific applications.

The greatest market challenge for HEPA filters is price and the

filters have a high initial cost. Although increased awareness of

green building and IAQ have helped to raise recognition of HEPA

filters, the degree to which they filter the air exceeds current

green building and IAQ standards. said the future market for

the filters is likely to depend on whether guidelines for commercial

HVAC applications are upgraded to meet the HEPAs' level of

filtration.

Although the future prospects for specific products remain to be

seen, industry experts say in general that the outlook for increased

IAQ awareness and green building continues to be strong and provide

a good foundation for increased worker well-being, more efficient

and environmentally friendly buildings, and more effective products

to make that possible.

is Huggins is a Market Analyst for Global Market Consultants,

Inc. The author based this article on her white paper on IAQ. The

white paper is available in full here.

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