Why Indoor Air Quality Monitoring Matters?
Indoor air quality monitoring is the process of gathering continuous data on the particles, gasses, and chemicals present in your air. The goal of collecting this data is to identify trends, spot problem areas, and make adjustments accordingly. Building owners and facility managers gain benefits from satisfied occupants as a result of enhanced indoor air quality that contributes to holistic indoor environmental quality. Continuous indoor air quality monitoring will provide actionable insights for facility managers to prevent problems at a fraction of the expense and effort that will be required to solve them.
Some of the more typical applications for monitoring indoor air quality include:
- IAQ complaint investigation and analysis
- Overheating or overcooling detection
- HVAC system performance monitoring
- Air quality engineering analysis
- Mold investigation and remediation
- Health and comfort assessment
- Airport lounges, shopping malls, offices
- Schools and kindergartens
- Hospitals and elderly care facilities
Which parameters should be monitored and why?
CO2
CO2 is dependent on various factors such as the number of people in the building, occupation time of the area, size of the room, and the amount of fresh air entering the site
Temperature
Temperature monitoring is vital for many reasons, including comfort, mold, bacteria, and energy efficiency. By monitoring the IaQ, we can see historic and current data of the indoor environment, current and projected outside weather, building, and HVAC equipment specifications to optimize IaQ and temperature management while considering the energy consumption of the building.
Humidity
Humidity levels (RH) should be kept below 60% in order to prevent molds from growing on the premises and ideally should be kept between 30%-50%.
Volatile Organic Compounds
Volatile Organic Compounds(VOCs) can generate adverse effects on human health by causing illnesses or increasing the severity of the sick-building syndrome.
Pressure
Pressure takes a critical role in ventilation. Positive Pressure will help keep hot outside air from penetrating into the building during the summer. Negative pressure during the winter will allow outside air into the building to maintain humidity. Control of the air pressure inside the building is key to keeping the building comfortable.
PM2.5 and PM10
PM2.5 and PM10 levels are a great indicator of how well your filtration system is performing. Indoor Air Quality Monitoring can help you understand where you stand in terms of particulate matters in your air. During the pandemic, filtration has become more important than ever. Experts from ASHRAE and the CDC recommend key changes to filter maintenance.
