Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) & Realtime Monitoring
Technical Update From Tony De Sousa – National Technical Manager
What is Indoor Air Quality?
Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) refers to the air quality within and around buildings and structures, especially as it relates to the health and comfort of building occupants. (Environmental Protection Agency – USA).
Prevailing UK legislation – Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, Regulation 6 Ventilation states the following:
(1) Effective and suitable provision shall be made to ensure that every enclosed workplace is ventilated by a sufficient quantity of fresh or purified air.
Whilst ACOP 6 – Section 47. Enclosed workplaces should be sufficiently well ventilated so that stale
air, and air which is hot or humid because of the processes or equipment in the workplace, is replaced at a reasonable rate.
So how do we measure if our workplace has sufficient fresh air? Historically, this was done as a “snapshot” of the parameters as measured when an engineer arrived on site to physically carry out some tests. However, with the ongoing developments of real time sensors (IoT), continuous readings are now available.
These units can measure the following parameters:
PM1 – Particulate Matter (diameter < 1 micrometres).
PM2.5 – Particulate Matter (diameter < 2.5 micrometres).
CO2 – Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is the air we breathe out.
VOC – Volatile Organic Compounds, airborne chemicals, odours and gaseous toxins.
Humidity – indicator of mould conditions.
Temperature – affects mood, comfort levels and alertness.
Radon – radioactive, invisible gas that comes from the ground.
Pressure – barometric pressure, which can cause headaches and fatigue.
Light – on or off, potentially help with identifying wasted energy use.
Noise – level should be between optimal ranges in areas of long exposure.
At Hydro-X Air, we recognize the benefits of monitoring the indoor air quality, and helping your business comply with legislation as well as improving employee morale and wellbeing.
Contact our team today to discuss your requirements or simply complete our online compliance checker tool here.
