In the drive towards airtight buildings, to conserve energy and protect the planet, Roy Jones from Gilberts Blackpool warns that the industry is failing to allow users – and the building – their ‘right’ to breathe healthy air
Say ‘indoor air quality,’ and we tend to automatically think about domestic properties with damp and condensation, as recently highlighted in news articles. We cannot forget it is just as relevant – and important – in non-domestic buildings from the offices and factories we work in, the hospitality venues we relax in, and the cinemas, museums and art galleries
we enjoy.
The importance of control and balance of the indoor air quality (IAQ) cannot be overlooked, or forgotten. Indoor environmental quality (IEQ) must also be taken into consideration for the occupants – lighting, daylight, and noise for example. But far and above these is the quality of the air that we breathe.
An invisible problem
It doesn’t help in that it is an invisible and somewhat indiscriminate problem. We wouldn’t drink a glass of dirty water because we know of the dangers, but we can’t see dirt and pollutants in the air we are breathing indoors. Given that we are spending around 90% of our time indoors, the air we breathe inside should be at least as clean as normal drinking water.
Despite sick building syndrome, and the spread of coughs and colds, most people still fail to associate those issues with poor air quality, yet they are all caused by airborne pollutants, which are exacerbated by inadequate ventilation. Up to 25% of infections as a result of surgical interventions come from an airborne route.
In factories and other industrial buildings, possible airborne pollutants are obvious. What about offices? Computers generate heat, and even the office laser printer emits ozone and other pollutants; all of which impact the IAQ.
Building Regulations Approved Document F (updated in 2021) and the Health & Safety Executive set minimum standards for ventilation taking into account the space’s use (whether occupied or occupiable, and the activity within). The Document addresses the other IAQ considerations, e.g. noise, and external pollutants such as exhaust fumes. Document F also raised the criteria to help improve IAQ, by requiring regular servicing and maintenance of ventilation plants including filters and CO2 sensors. And it appreciates our changing needs, such as now including purge ventilation, reducing duct length (where pollutants can collect and multiply) and pushing for rigid rather than flexible ducting.
The changing climate – more spells of heavier rain, higher humidity and wetter winters – only exacerbates the issues for architects. Indeed, on a wet day, if we plan on opening a window to maintain indoor air quality, are we actually designing more moisture in than out?
Is there a simple answer?
The issue is more one of education, making the world at large change their misconceptions that allowing ventilation i.e. air to circulate, and airborne pollutants and water vapour to escape does not mean all the heat is escaping too.
Build Tight Build Right (aka build tight, ventilate right) is fundamental, especially with the increasingly obvious impact of climate change and rising energy bills. Overriding it, IAQ should be the first question addressed when designing buildings.
It is the education of people at every step: the building owners, architects, contractors and occupiers.
Architects specifically play a key role in the initial process, setting the IAQ needs and requirements. Correct airflow/ventilation protects clients’ health, the building fabric (reducing repair and maintenance bills), the occupants, and ultimately the planet. Contributing pollutants can be designed out of buildings.
Manufacturers are working on solutions, evolving systems that address the Document F guidelines (commercial versions of MVHR are a typical example), and taking the design aesthetics into account so the ventilation compliments and enhances the overall scheme with special yet easily provided elements (such as illuminated coanda plates) or blending components/products seamlessly into the background via its styling and/or finish.
To pick up on an idea mooted during World Ventil8 Day, and going back to the dirty water analogy, maybe we all need to push for a public certification scheme for IAQ, similar to the Building Energy Certificates, BREEAM, LEED, or even the star for hospitality venues; something that goes beyond aspirational, to become a ‘must have’ for customers in addition to the established cleanliness rating?
With today’s software technology such as Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), it is easy to model and validate the IAQ at the design stage, thus enabling fine adjustments to be made.
IAQ is a right. It is not something that should be ignored. It impacts our health, wellbeing and productivity wherever we are, and at all times. It is ‘the air we breathe.’
Roy Jones is technical director at Gilberts Blackpool