Assessing Building Air Quality: 3 Ways to Actionable Data

The air we breathe is critical to our health. This is true for the air inside as well as outside. Therefore, facilities managers and commercial business owners need to evaluate their building air quality. A building condition assessment is a way to do this. This evaluation provides information on a company’s facilities that helps them identify risks. Assessing building air quality also provides actionable data for improving HVAC performance, keeping occupants safe, and operating costs low.

Assessing Air Quality with Building Sciences

Improving building air quality is an important focus for commercial business owners and building managers. The benefits of improving indoor environmental conditions include increased employee performance. Healthy workers miss fewer days of work, have higher morale, and are more productive. For schools and universities, better IAQ means higher test scores. Improving the performance and efficiency of the HVAC system also improves energy efficiency and reduces expensive repair and replacement calls. 

3 Steps to Actionable Data to Improve Building Air Quality

The systems and methods used in our Building Sciences help stakeholders gauge the impact of their HVAC system and make improvements. It includes three steps to help facilities managers achieve their goals of improving and maintaining building air quality.

1. Building Health Check and IAQ Baseline

The Building Health Check is an assessment that tests the performance of HVAC systems. This comprehensive evaluation uses field and laboratory assays to look at the biological conditions of a building. It screens for fungi, bacteria, and also viruses. Wall and floor moisture readings get logged as do humidity and temperature levels. 

Additional services in assessing building air quality include:

• Mold assessments
• Allergen and dust screening
• Contaminant source and risk assessments
• Infrared Thermography
• Test and balance reporting

2. HVAC Hygiene & Performance, HVAC Conditional Reporting

An important part of IAQ baseline reporting is the HVAC Hygiene Assessment. The evaluation is a gauge of the system’s impact on building air quality. This information is critical in dealing with the airborne transmission of viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 which causes COVID-19 and its many variants. 

The assessment starts with a visual inspection of the system for cleanliness. It also includes inspection of the coils, drain pan, blower, and ductwork. The testing of collected samples measures the impact of pressure and airflow across the coils. Our environmental diagnostic lab also tests for mold, bacteria, mycotoxins, pollutants, and viruses.  

The HVAC Hygiene Assessment includes testing for airflow and energy efficiency, air conveyance hygiene, duct leakage, air filtration, and building air tightness as well as building pressure analysis and post-construction evaluations. After compiling the data, analysis and a comprehensive report follow. The report details building conditions and provides recommendations for improvements.

3. IAQ Guard, 24/7 Monitoring Alerts and Reporting

Testing the performance and impact of the HVAC system on building air quality is an essential first step in maintaining proper IAQ. Monitoring ensures potential threats to building air quality get identified and addressed quickly. Our IAQ Guard 2.0 system uses an all-in-one module monitor to track building conditions 24/7. Our remote team of environmental technicians keeps a close eye on IAQ conditions in real-time. As a result, they alert facilities managers to any changes impacting building air safety.

An important feature of IAQ Guard 2.0 is its use of artificial intelligence (AI) swarms that work with other WIFI-enabled products such as portable air purifiers. As an example, once the particulate matter in a room exceeds the acceptable threshold, IAQ Guard activates the air purifier to clean the air and reduce PMs immediately. 

Cleaning and Restoration

Once the assessment identifies issues impacting building air quality, steps to clean and disinfect follow. A system such as our PURE-Steam method dislodges dust and debris using high-temperature steam thus killing microbes and removing odors. As well, PURE-Decon uses EPA-registered DEPs to cleanse HVAC equipment and ductwork. This method kills up to 99.9 percent of mold, bacteria, allergens, and pathogens.

The HVAC New Life system uses several methods to improve air quality indoors. These include the application of an antimicrobial coating to protect the HVAC system as well as its components. Further, PURE-Cell fiberglass-free zero-porosity replaces traditional fiberglass with a material that stops moisture and microbial growth from degrading the system. 

Improve Building Air Quality Today

Before providing assurances to building occupants that the air quality in your building is safe, find out for sure. Testing, analysis, remediation, as well as monitoring are the way to do this. For more information, contact WTI – Pure Air Control today.