Indoor Air Quality
IAQ
Indoor air quality is an important consideration of healthy building design, and it is widely accepted that the IAQ in buildings can have an adverse impact on occupant health, particularly given that we spend approximately 90% of our time indoors. General stuffiness and lingering odours are tangible indicators of poor air quality – a sign of inadequate ventilation. If the ventilation is under-performing, the indoor air can be repeatedly recycled, causing the build -up of pollutants.
Poor indoor air quality can contribute towards both short and long term heath issues. Typical symptoms associated with poor indoor air quality include eye, nose and throat irritation; headaches, nausea, dizziness and fatigue. In some cases, exposure can lead to building-related illnesses such as asthma. Many of these symptoms and conditions can be alleviated by correct ventilation, and/or identifying and eliminating the sources.
There have been many international IAQ studies over the years. The cumulative outcome of these has contributed to the development of a number of guidelines. The World Health Organisation has played a key role in the collation of this data, and has commissioned expert groups to undertake further research. Some of these guidelines have been developed into standards by the ISO.
The UK government has now recognised the need to address IAQ, and have for the first time introduced performance criteria for the control of pollution levels in the indoor air. All new homes built from April 2006 will need to ensure that the levels of pollution are within set limits.