Improving Indoor Air Quality
in Commercial Buildings

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Overview

People spend, on average 90%, of their time indoors. With recent awareness of poor indoor air quality (IAQ) in our buildings and the phenomenon of “sick building syndrome,” there has been increased interest in assessing the sources of the pollution, as well as finding ways to improve the quality of the air we are breathing inside of our structures.

This module addresses the sources of poor air quality in commercial buildings. Building design and construction practices largely contribute to the quality of the air inside buildings, and understanding how to reduce exposure through better building practices is essential to improving the quality of the air that we breath. In this training, Paul Bates, GREENGUARD Environmental Institute, and John Bracey, Southface Technical Project Manager, will walk you through key strategies to improving IAQ in commercial buildings.

Building envelope design, construction, and building operations & maintenance practices all have substantial impact on how good or bad the air will be for building occupants. The following will be among the topics covered in this IAQ training tool:

• What are health and financial risks of poor IAQ?
• How buildings impact occupant health
• Designing for optimal air quality
• IAQ management during building construction
• HVAC & Ventilation Strategies to improve IAQ
• Operations & Maintenance Practices that impact IAQ
• Green Building Programs addressing IAQ
• IAQ Case Studies
• IAQ Resources

Target Audience

Building owners, design teams, contractors, product manufacturers and others responsible for the design and construction of high performance buildings.

Learning Objectives

1. Health and financial impacts of poor indoor air quality
2. Moisture and pollutant source control
3. Green building certification programs and IAQ strategies
4. IAQ practices during building design, construction, and maintenance

Content Contributors

Southface Commercial Green Building Services provides technical assistance on environmentally-sustainable building and community design, building science, energy efficiency and renewable energy. Our clients include the private sector, government agencies, educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, and utilities. As a 501(c)3 private, non-profit education, research and technical assistance organization. Southface does not directly provide design or construction services, but rather serves as a consultant to the owner or design team.

Commercial Green Building Services promotes the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED™) program of the US Green Building Council. LEED addresses site, energy, water, materials, and indoor environmental quality. Southface has expertise in all of these areas, and is skilled at assisting design teams in using a wholistic approach to creating high performance buildings.

The GREENGUARD Environmental Institute is an industry-independent, non-profit organization that oversees the GREENGUARD Certification Program^SM, which certifies indoor products based on strict chemical emissions criteria. Products such as paints, flooring, furniture, textiles, adhesives, cleaners and electronics are tested and verified to meet the stringent GREENGUARD Indoor Air Quality Certified^® or GREENGUARD Children and Schools^SM standards.

GREENGUARD Certification provides third party assurance that products have been tested for potentially harmful chemical emissions, and found to meet allowable levels established by recognized public health authorities. For more information visit www.greenguard.org.

The GREENGUARD Building Construction Program is a comprehensive, proactive process that addresses moisture issues throughout the design, construction, acceptance and occupancy phases. Owners and occupants of GREENGUARD Certified buildings can rest assure that the best practices for avoiding mold and moisture were used.

Module Team
Paul Bates, GREENGUARD Environmental Institute
John Bracey, Southface Technical Project Manager
Denise Grimm, Southface Technical Project Manager