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Ventilation


Good indoor air quality can support wellbeing


Phil Mangnall, national sales manager for Jaga Heating Products (UK), discusses the considerations that design engineers must be aware of when looking at the options for providing ventilation in a care home environment


There are certain scenarios that increase the importance of the choices made when designing ventilation systems. In care homes, where the careful specification of all building services is crucial, indoor air quality is an issue that has a direct impact on what matters most – the health and wellbeing of residents. In recent years, concerns have shifted from a focus on the environment to looking at the ‘invironment’ (a term used to describe the indoor environment), the general air quality within buildings and its impact on the overall health of care home residents.


Good indoor air quality has been defined by the Chartered Institution of Building Service Engineers (CIBSE) as “air with no known contaminants at harmful concentrations”. Ventilation literally is the provision of fresh air into a space. The problem is that the use of the word fresh is not always entirely accurate. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), indoor air is two to 10 times more polluted than the air outside.1


Poor air quality can be detrimental in buildings such as care homes, which house elderly, vulnerable residents. It is therefore imperative that care facilities measure the internal air quality to discover whether changes need to be made to the ventilation system in order to enhance residents’ health and wellbeing. According to Age UK, there are just under 20,000 care homes in the UK providing care to around 426,000 residents; a figure that looks set to increase.2


Over the next five to 10 years it has been estimated that at least an additional 6,700 elderly people will be looking for a care home facility each year until 2020.


To satisfy this increasing demand, activity in the new build sector is increasing. It is also crucial that those who are specifying these buildings understand the detrimental effect that poor air quality


can have on residents. Prevention is protection; protection of the residents themselves, which in turn protects the provider from liability.


Risk assessment


While the obligation to protect the health and wellbeing of occupants in care homes is motivation enough, the safe engineering, implementation and operation of systems is also outlined in the Care Quality Commission’s Health and Social Care Act 2008; in Regulation 12 it states that all care and treatment must be provided in a safe way for service users.3


This includes assessing the risk of, and preventing, detecting and controlling the spread of infection, and ensuring that the environment is safe for the residents, employees and visitors. This can be achieved by installing effective ventilation systems in care homes that enhance air quality.


Of course, identifying a solution that fits any given building or circumstance can be complex, even before decision makers consider implementing a solution. However, while digesting these options is easier said than done, being aware of the responsibility building service providers have in these situations is the first step.


May 2017 • www.thecarehomeenvironment .com


Air from outside is drawn into the room by an oxygen unit (blue arrows). Clean, filtered air is then introduced into the room (red arrow)


Duty of care


Care home providers are bound by a duty of care. Poor quality indoor air can be a cause of harm, so this risk must be eradicated through carefully considered system design.


Failing to prevent, dilute or contain harmful airborne substances could result in a civil suit against designers, engineers and operators by individuals who are affected. From every angle, the necessity for adequate ventilation simply must be acknowledged.


In care homes, great care is taken to ensure that all nursing staff are completing their jobs to the best of their ability. However, these efforts are futile if the air in the care home environment is not treated with similarly scrupulous attention.


Isolating and eradicating airborne contaminants is one thing, but CO2


levels


must be constantly monitored too. Relying on windows being opened manually is not sufficient, particularly during the cold winter months when it is natural to try to keep the warmth in. As a result, CO2


builds up to unacceptable


levels and is trapped within the care home to the detriment of occupants’ health, comfort and wellbeing.


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