Why is air quality in buildings important?
Over the past couple of years, there has been much more focus on air quality and the health of environments people are spending large amounts of time within.
We spoke with John Bohlmann, who is the CEO of HawkenAQ, on our podcast series about why air quality is so important.
If you'd prefer, you can listen to the interview in full on our podcast.
John explains that we spend over 90% of our time indoors. Most of that time is spent in commercial buildings; whether that's at school, in an office, or in the gym. Even on weekends, we go to shopping malls, supermarkets, we might go to a restaurant, and then finally we go back home at the end of the day.
"We found that energy monitoring costs have been prioritised over human health for many decades when it comes to buildings. Buildings are supremely over-optimised for affordability, construction and energy use, but indoor air quality has actually grown into a hidden pandemic that is affecting everyone every day.
Many people don't realise the impact of bad air quality; it has been shown that air quality is the leading cause of asthma, migraines and many other common health problems. Many people who are tired or groggy during the day are simply sitting in buildings that aren't getting enough fresh air, the Co2 levels are elevated, and that has profound impacts. But, it doesn't just affect your health; it also affects the occupant's productivity.
It has been shown that better air quality can improve productivity and cognitive function in office buildings by more than 10%, and some studies have shown effects as high as 26% if occupants work in a 'green certified' building versus one that is not. It also leads to better sleep scores, and in children, the impact is even more profound. Poor air quality is associated with reduced academic performance, greater risk of autism and lower adult earnings when they grow up.
There are hundreds of peer-reviewed articles showing all of these different effects and how it's making our employees less productive, affecting our student's grades at school, and when you think about ROI, it is overwhelmingly worth it to fix this. Monitoring and improving air quality in office buildings will probably only cost approx. £50 annually per person but generate over £8000 in increased productivity when you consider the boosts in performance, general health and wellness in the building".
"The number one problem today is that most buildings don't meet the standards that are out there…It would massively help if buildings took this issue seriously and looked for ways to retrofit so that they can meet the fresh air standards".
There are many emerging and established standards within the smart building industry that aim to provide businesses with guidance; John states, "I'm glad to see air quality focused standards emerge, e.g. the WELL building standard has gained quite a bit of traction, it is similar to the LEED certification but for air quality in a building. It's very health and wellness-focused and it goes a lot further than ASHRAE does, it provides a complete solution for all aspects of indoor air quality and health".