The problem…
In modern life there are so many things that are really important in order to ensure a high level of good living. Most of them are visible and easy to understand, so people take care to secure them. Nice examples are high quality of food which an average person enjoys five times per day in a quantity of one kilogram and clean drinking water which approximately consumed fifteen times at a quantity of two kilograms per day. Nevertheless there is one more thing that is really important for people’s life and many times is difficult to be perceived because is invisible. That is the air we breath! In order to understand the importance of clean air in our life we just need to know that without food we can survive for a few weeks, without water for a few days but without air for only some minutes! That is the reason why the indoor air quality must be one of our main concerns in modern life! In reality, Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is an issue that is very underestimated and as recent researches shown, has direct connection with transmission of viruses and diseases between people.
The solution…
The improvement of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is achieved through a combination of technologies and actions from both the design engineer and the user of a building and varies depending on the type of building (residence, office, industry, etc.). Moreover this a continuous procedure that starts from the design of a building and goes all over to the everyday use. Main drivers on this IAQ strategy can be the following :
- Design buildings with mandatory proper mechanical ventilation in order to ensure the correct renewal of air no matter the outdoor air flow direction and quantity is.
- Use high efficiency filters in order to retain particles of dust and dirty moving inside the buildings. These particles are possible virus transporters so must be safely removed from the indoor air.
- Control temperature and relative humidity in order to maintain the indoor conditions in proper limits which for thermal comfort are temperature 22-26οC and relative humidity 40-60%.
- Use natural ventilation where and when this is possible to be applied in order to increase the air renewal.
- In special applications (hospitals, pharmaceutical or other buildings with strict hygienic requirements) design and install systems respecting reliable Hygienic standards which are commonly used along Europe like VDI 6022 and DIN 1946.
The conclusion…
Creating an indoor environment with high quality air is neither a luxury nor a recent trend. It has been proven to be a necessity in order :
- to ensure best living conditions in every building
- to improve productivity and safety in working environments
- to decrease the possibility of virus infections like but not only COVID-19
- to increase the market value of a building
…and finally to create a new generation of safe and efficient buildings for us and our children.
Chrysostomos I. Bouras