PIPES AND DUCTWORK
Breath of fresh air
As part of a movement towards improving well-being in offi ces and other places of work, building owners/operators are looking for cost- eff ective ways to help boost occupant satisfaction levels. Malcolm Moss, president of ADCAS, looks at how a properly maintained ductwork ventilation system can help improve indoor air quality.
V
arious studies have demonstrated a link between indoor air quality and overall productivity, health and
happiness in the workplace and as we strive to build increasingly airtight structures in order to improve energy effi ciency, a reliable ventilation system is now more important than ever before.
Estimates suggest that the average person
spends around 80-90% of their life indoors and it’s been shown that air inside a building can be as much as 70% times more polluted than the air outside. There is, therefore, clear motivation to deliver healthier indoor environments and protect against ‘sick building syndrome’ – a condition brought about by very poor indoor air quality, often due in part to inadequate ventilation. Although still not fully understood or legislated for, there is clear evidence to suggest that the condition negatively aff ects staff productivity and increases absenteeism and the number of sick days being taken.
Dust busting With the introduction of CO2 sensors, it’s easier to detect a build-up and ventilate accordingly – however, these sensors do not provide
34 April 2020
information on other circulating pollutants within the room. Poorly maintained ductwork systems
can help spread contaminants, silently carrying dust, dirt and other particulates and distributing them throughout the building – put simply, when it comes to ductwork, a fi t and forget approach should never be tolerated. In order to ensure that indoor air quality standards are preserved, routine inspections and cleaning should be carried out by specialists with the necessary tools and expertise. The cleaning and maintenance plan should therefore be put in place immediately before commissioning so that everyone involved can be certain that the newly installed system is dust and contaminant-free. Even if the installer has precisely followed the protection, delivery and installation (PDI) guidelines as defi ned in Table F.2 in the TR/19 Guide to Good Practice – Internal Cleanliness of Ventilation Systems, there is still a chance that it will fail on acceptable dust accumulation levels as defi ned in Table F.1 of the same document. The only way to guarantee that dust accumulation levels meet the required standard is to schedule a post-installation clean.
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