Improving a Building’s Indoor Environment Quality

The quality of indoor air is directly related to the amount of Ventilation in a building. A person’s health, comfort and well-being can be significantly affected by the quality of the indoor air. Building ventilation systems are used to introduce fresh air from outdoors into the building while exhausting “old ” air. The amount of ventilation in a building affects the indoor air quality by introducing clean outside air into the building. The heating or cooling system will have to work harder to maintain a comfortable interior temperature. In order to mitigate the effects of ventilation on the heating and cooling system, most mechanical heating, ventilation and cooling (HVAC) systems are designed to re-circulate a significant portion of the indoor conditioned air. The recirculation of old air has a detrimental effect on the indoor air quality and should be monitored to verify that the air still meets the minimum standards for building occupancy and use. Mechanical Ventilation System Active (mechanical) ventilation systems use fans to draw fresh outside air into the building. Mechanical ventilation systems can provide consistent air flow to interior spaces and can be designed to maximize the indoor environment quality by controlling factors such as air speed, air quality, temperature and humidity. High efficiency filter systems can improve indoor air quality when they are integrated into building’s HVAC system