Indoor air quality solutions for commercial buildings

Abstract

Poor Indoor Air Quality in commercial buildings is a growing concern these days, with several studies suggesting that indoor air pollution is 2-5 times worse than outdoor air pollution. Most individuals spend approximately 8-10 hours a day at their workplace, exposing themselves to dangerous indoor air pollutants such as bacteria, mold, viruses, carcinogenic VOC's (volatile organic compounds) generated within the office building. Micro-organisms and VOC's are continuously released in commercial buildings and it is important to effectively keep the counts under control, since the generation of these pollutants are dynamic and cannot be predicted. It is practically not possible to sterilize the people entering commercial buildings and offices and expect them to wear sterile garments, gloves and masks used in clean room environments in the office. We also cannot avoid the use of cleaning agents, adhesives used for furniture and carpets, paints and sanitizers. This challenge sparked off the inspiration to design an innovative and effective solution that addresses the above issues and provides centralized decontamination at the source. To effectively do this, the solution needs to integrate with the AHU to ensure that all the air circulated within the building is treated and decontaminated. In most AHU designs, the air is recirculated 10 times in one hour and since the IAQ system is integrated with the AHU, it ensures that the air is decontaminated with every pass through the system. The efficacy of the system has been tested and its performance validated in the test facility by a NABL accredited firm, and the proof of concept established practically, with field tests at live installations in fully functional office buildings.