For the past four & something years I’ve been babbling on about “IAQ”. We’ve even had discussions and put the Marketing Group to work on “IAQ” material. We have an “IAQ” link to our web site. There is a seemingly endless supply of material on the internet aimed at “IAQ” education. SO ! Turn to the person next to you right now, (yes right now) and ask them – What is I.A.Q.? And you’ll probably get the answer, “Indoor Air Quality, of coarse”. And what is Indoor Air Quality?
I penned the title of these articles “Dirty Little World” for two reasons. With the advent of the electronics age the world is getting (should I say it!) more “little”. Plus it’s a dirty place. Back in the days when human kind was still running around in bear skins, eating berries, and roots, and trying hard not to be eaten, there was an abundance of pollutants that have remained with us over the eons. And all we do now is track them into our homes to mix with what we generate by ourselves. But what in fact makes air quality good or poor? What makes air clean or dirty? What is Indoor Air Quality.? To our ancestors in bear skins Air Quality was non-existent. Just being able to breathe made you one of the fortunate ones. We graduated to caves, found fire, burnt whatever was available, began burning meat over the fire, and still didn’t care about pollution or plumbing, that was all part of “cave dwelling”. Then came the constructed dwelling place. But still no plumbing – I would imagine we didn’t care too much because it was the “norm”. (And as one of my friends would say) “ and here’s the Hook Baby”. It was the “norm”. So to-day with years of enlightenment, and learning how is it we still have a hard time defining Indoor Air Quality. The U.S. Federal Standard 209E (1994) set out a “bench mark” Standard of 100,000 respirable particles per cubic foot. So at 100,001 p/cu ft is your IAQ unacceptable? Or conversely at 99,999 is it clean? If airborne particle matter is low but undetected contaminating gases are high is your air clean? So ( the Hook!) what is the norm?
In Encyclopedia language: Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is a term referring to the air quality within or around buildings and structures, especially as it relates to the health and comfort of the building occupants. (IAQ can be affected by microbial mold, bacteria, gases, radon, VOC’s, particles, or any mass or energy stressor that can induce adverse health conditions.) Determining IAQ then involves the collection of air samples, monitoring of human exposure, and inside air flow studies.
So IAQ is more than just clean air/dirty air.? It is perhaps, “the active study and correction of adverse human health factors with in, but not confined to, an occupied building or area of a building, vehicle or confined space.” To some that could be high levels of formaldehyde gas, to others air borne particulate matter smaller than 0.30 microns, and still to others something as simple as high humidity. For me it would be elevated levels of Ozone and dust. The “norm” is not always normal. As long as the human body can deal with the stressors & contaminates, then is the IAQ acceptable?, but when airborne stachybotrys mold spores put a person in hospital (or worse), is it poor? I would like to offer you this thought. IAQ is part of the more broad spectrum of A.Q. (Air Quality) and is or will be a branch of the HVAC Industry by it’s own right, and those who embrace the need and develop the skills now will be sought after for consultation and remediation, and this will only increase as energy costs rise and building construction becomes “tighter”.