crucially, make sure it is well maintained throughout its operating life because there is no obvious, immediate threat.
Filtration on the scale that is required can be quite expensive to buy and install; and they must be checked and changed frequently. However, the alternative is to filter polluted air directly through people’s lungs.
New research carried out by Professor Stephen Holgate on behalf of the Royal College of Paediatrics & Child Health is expected to show that, in some cases, indoor air can be 13 times more polluted than outdoor. Imagine if that were the case on those indoor tennis courts.
There is nothing legally obliging developers to put in the right level of investment and, if they do fit good quality filtration, they may also need to fit larger ventilation fans to deal with the increased pressure drops. This makes the whole project more expensive and takes up valuable space.
So, while events at the Australian Open pushed the issue to the top of the news agenda for a day or two; it is the long-term consequences we must keep in mind, but how?
Radiation
During the award winning TV series Chernobyl viewers would have seen dosimeters throughout the nuclear plant clicking away to warn workers there was a radiation leak. Like pollution, radiation is invisible and its worst effects can take a long time to manifest themselves, but there are no dosimeters to warn us about air quality.
Local authorities are legally obliged to measure air quality using monitoring stations that can cost up to £40,000. This means they are aware of spikes in pollution, but they are not legally obliged to share that information with the general public – and so very few do. So, what is the value of that £40,000? It is a little known fact that children born today have a shorter life expectancy by an average of two years because of poor air quality. How shocking is that? All of us as members of the building engineering industry and the human race need to start demanding action in the shape of legislation to address this huge health emergency. The BESA Health & Wellbeing in Buildings group has launched a Building Safe Havens campaign aimed at raising the awareness of the importance
of indoor air quality and the implications for society. We have recently been joined by the UK’s first World Health Organisation (WHO) advocate for health and air quality Rosamund Adoo Kissi-Debrah whose daughter Ella died from a severe asthma attack linked to air pollution.
At the recent BESA National Conference, Rosamund pleaded with the industry to recognise its responsibility in this area.
“Remember that every action has a consequence and everyone has a responsibility to do what they can to make our children safer inside and outside buildings,” she said. “The building engineering industry has a particularly important role to play because of the nature of your work. It is, therefore, so crucial that you don’t cut corners and don’t look for loopholes in standards and regulations.”
Air pollution is at illegal and unsafe levels in 169 local authorities across the UK, according to the WHO and the British Lung Foundation has labelled pollution as Britain’s greatest health emergency costing our economy upwards of £20 billion a year, largely due to the additional burden on the NHS.
Over 12 million people across the UK live with a lung condition and living near a main road effectively means that a child is suffering the same effects as passively smoking 10 cigarettes a day. The UK government is currently finalising its draft Environment Bill and the BESA group has provided a number of suggested measures so the new legislation
can be used to deliver the safe haven concwept. Specifically, it has called for mandatory measuring and monitoring of indoor air quality (IAQ) including PM2.5
and below; CO2 levels; VOCs and NOx. Adopting the latest international filtration standard (ISO16890) would allow building engineers to tackle even the very smallest particulates including PM1 (the smallest easily measurable), which has been identified as a Group One carcinogen by the WHO and was linked in recent studies to early onset Alzheimer’s disease.
BESA has also suggested that air quality checks should become part of OFSTED inspections for schools, particularly in high risk urban areas and close to busy roads. The bill could also lead to better enforcement of design guidance for NHS Trusts by specifying particular standards of clean air in hospitals and other healthcare facilities. The government should also consider closely linking relevant building regulations (Parts F and L) to ensure improvements in energy efficiency (Part L) do not lead to overheating and lack of good ventilation.
As the global air pollution crisis worsens and awareness grows, it is incumbent on our policy makers to fulfill one of any government’s most important responsibilities: To protect its people – and particularly its children – from this growing clear and present danger.
www.theBESA.com
www.heatingandventilating.net
February 2020
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