BSEE INDOOR AIR QUALITY H
Recent research has shown how poor indoor air quality negatively affects health – but it has also been shown to affect general wellbeing and productivity in the workplace. David Cook (pictured), Product Marketing Manager – Non‐Residential at Vent‐Axia, explains how demand control ventilation and the latest filtration systems can be instrumental in improving indoor air quality (IAQ).
appy workers are 12% more productive. This surprising figure comes from the Stoddart Review, which shows that the health and wellbeing of staff has a significant impact on productivity. Whilst this is great for individual companies, if we look at this on a national scale just a 1% increase in productivity would add £20bn to the UK economy. This is not something to ignore.
So how does this link to building design? A host of research has shown that building design can affect staff wellbeing a surprising amount. A study by BESA (Building Engineering Services Association) found that 70% of office workers believe poor workplace air quality is having a negative effect on their day-to-day productivity and well-being, and a third are concerned that poor IAQ could be having a negative effect on their health.
In addition, a 2005 report by CABE and the British Council for Offices, which examined the impact of office design on business performance, cited differences in productivity of 25% between comfortable and uncomfortable staff, due to basics such as air quality, temperature, overall comfort, noise and lighting.
This is backed up by a World Green Building Council report, which showed that office design impacts the health, wellbeing and productivity of its occupants, with a key area being good IAQ. A comprehensive body of research was drawn on and suggests that productivity improvements of 8-11% are not uncommon as a result of better IAQ. This is not small stuff. But modern, airtight buildings present issues for IAQ. Whilst this is advantageous for the energy efficiency of a building, without appropriate ventilation they are prone to the accumulation of air pollutants, resulting in poor IAQ. Airtight buildings can also overheat, with excessively high workplace temperatures also impacting IAQ, reducing productivity and causing fatigue, irritability, and headache. Chemicals are released from building materials faster when temperatures are higher, exposing occupants to higher pollutant levels.
Keeping it fresh
So what can be done to improve IAQ and so productivity and wellbeing? The most practical way is through continuous ventilation, ideally using a modern demand- ventilation system which automatically responds to the particular air quality needs of a space. Traditional fixed- volume ventilation systems are either on or off, regardless of the conditions or the number of people in the room. Demand ventilation supplies or extracts air only when, and to the extent to which, it is required. It operates according to sophisticated control and sensory options that are designed to provide ventilation appropriate to the needs of the occupiers. This means continuous better air quality, as well as improved energy efficiency. In addition, these sensors can be easily linked to a Building Management System for full control and monitoring if required. The latest demand ventilation systems, such as the Sentinel Totus 2 Demand Energy Recovery Ventilation system (D- ERV), integrate 90% energy recovery into the ventilation
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DEMAND CONTROL VENTILATION & FILTRATION Air quality and its impact on workplace productivity
system. This system extracts the energy from the room’s warm, stale air before it is exhausted outside, while fresh incoming air is preheated via the high efficiency plate heat exchanger and supplied into the room. The energy recovery process is proven to use up to 90% of the heat energy which would otherwise be wasted.
D-ERV systems are available with 100% summer bypass, which allows the building to take advantage of any free cooling available when ambient temperature is below the room design conditions, typical in spring and autumn. Plus, a user-enabled nighttime purge facility can reduce the start- up loads for a building’s air conditioning plant, reducing overheating in summer from non-air conditioned spaces. Cold rooms can cause discomfort to hands and feet, shivering, and fatigue. In the winter the high efficiency heat recovery of D-ERV systems tempers the air to such a level that the building should not suffer from draughts, eliminating the need for re-heaters. The latest systems now include frost heaters so that in extreme winter conditions the system can provide a heating boost to achieve thermal comfort for occupiers.
The next step
And there are further ways of improving IAQ with cutting edge filtration systems that are designed for on demand ventilation and MVHR units. For example, the new Vent-Axia Pure Air sets the benchmark for high level filtration, targeting pollutants generated outside of the building by traffic and industrial processes and reducing these before supplying the air inside. Fitted to the intake airflow, Vent-Axia Pure Air incorporates two types of filtration: enhanced activated Carbon which removes unpleasant odours and harmful gasses such as Nitrogren Dioxide; and G4 or F7 particulate filters which can remove tiny airborne contaminants such as pollen, bacteria and even PM2.5 diesel particulates. Thanks to an extensive model range, Vent-Axia Pure Air fits a wide range of on demand and MVHR systems and, in combination with these, offers the ideal indoor environment. Although it has often been overshadowed by concerns around outdoor air pollution, the quality of the air inside the buildings in which we spend most of our lives can no longer be a side issue. Good IAQ is essential and it’s clear that a healthy, happy workforce is vital to a productive and successful business. According to the Stoddart Review, the ‘productivity gap’ is the chasm between those organisations that are taking a proactive strategic approach to the role of their physical environment and those who are not.
In the highest performing Leesman Index measured workplace (a performance measure of how workplaces support the employees they accommodate), 86% of employees said that 'their workplace enables them to work productively'. In its lowest performing space, that figure stood at just 15%. New technology, such as that offered by D-ERV and filtration systems, provides an efficient and cost- effective way to ensure our indoor environments remain healthy and productive, year-round.
www.vent-axia.com
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Demand
ventilation supplies or extracts air only when, and to the extent to which, it is required. It operates according to sophisticated control and sensory options that are designed to provide ventilation appropriate to the needs of the occupiers. This means continuous better air quality, as well as improved energy efficiency.
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uDemand ventilation systems, such as the Sentinel Totus 2 Demand Energy Recovery Ventilation system (D‐ERV), integrate 90% energy recovery into the ventilation system.
34 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER APRIL 2017
uThe Vent‐Axia Pure Air system filter targets pollutants generated outside of the building by traffic and industrial processes and reduces these before supplying the air inside.
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