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Poor air quality is a big topic in the UK news at the moment. Recent media coverage has highlighted both the productivity and health impact of air quality. We created the a list of the top five things we think you should know about air quality at the moment...
1) In the UK, we typically have poor quality outdoor air in cities
Poor outdoor air quality is not news, an estimated 8.8 million people die as a result of air pollution every year worldwide – 40,000 in the UK. The British Heart Foundation (BHF) says living in a British city raises the risk of early death by the same amount as smoking 150 cigarettes a year and that airborne particulate matter is responsible for 11,000 deaths annually from coronary heart disease and strokes.
2) The air quality inside buildings is not always better!
New research carried out by Southampton University professor Stephen Holgate revealed that indoor air quality (IAQ) can be 13 times worse than external pollution. This renowned asthma expert, who is leading a review into IAQ on behalf of the Royal College of Physicians, also pointed out that the difference between the outdoor and indoor problem is that IAQ can be controlled with relatively minor changes to occupant behaviour and improvements to building services.
3) IEQ impacts our productivity and wellbeing (and our wallets!)
We are already deeply involved in the wider challenge of providing the best possible indoor environment quality (IEQ) covering the full range of factors that affect occupant health, wellbeing and productivity. We all understand the importance of thermal comfort; the impact of better acoustics is now widely recognised; and increasing the level of natural daylight in a building has been shown to lower stress levels and improve sleep quality. We also know that high CO2 levels can reduce performance and productivity; high VOCs can cause heart and lung disease as well as certain cancers.
However, this is a complex challenge because so many factors must be taken into account when building, operating or refurbishing a facility, including lifecycle cost, energy consumption, carbon footprint and the impact on the physical health and mental wellbeing of occupants.
4) Smart systems are making it easier to monitor and react to air quality
Our understanding of the problems is improving all the time the industry now has access to a wide range of ‘smart’ tools to measure IEQ that can be directly linked to energy efficient, demand controlled ventilation and indoor climate systems thanks to improved connectivity in buildings. We can even remotely optimise, maintain or modify the operation of the building based on this data.
5) Collaboration will help us deliver buildings that work for the occupant
To deliver a building with the ideal indoor climate, the project team must commit to the vision and work collaboratively to deliver it. Unfortunately, in many cases important parts of the specification can be altered at the last minute, often without considering lifecycle costs or the impact on the occupant.
At Swegon, I'm happy we feel this responsibility and recognise that every action has a consequence, so everything we do from design support to commissioning and ongoing operation is because we care about the long-term well-being of building occupants!
Want to talk to a Swegon Expert about indoor climate? We will work with you, finding opportunities to create an even better building, using innovative technology to improve wellbeing or reduce construction, operation or maintenance costs. Click here to learn more...
