HVAC SYSTEMS


‘Connected technology’ maintaining healthy IAQ


We breathe, on average, 12 times per minute, 720 times per hour, and 17,280 times a day, but how do we know that our healthcare buildings are safe and healthy when it comes to air quality? Renée Jacobs, Healthcare Business Development manager at Distech Controls, discusses the importance of good indoor air quality, and some of the steps that can be taken to maintain healthy indoor environments for all users of such facilities using ‘integrated systems and connected technology’.


We hear a lot about air quality and its undoubted impact on our wellbeing and health. But when we dig a little bit more on the subject, people are referring mostly to outdoor air quality. The general perception seems to be that we are exposed to outdoor pollution, but that once we are inside in the building, we are protected from air pollution. In a study made by French Consulting company, Elabe,1


52% of French, 60% of Belgian, and 62% of


Shanghai residents were surprised to learn that we are exposed to more air pollution inside buildings than we are outdoors. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),2


polluted than outdoors


Indoor environments Healthcare settings are complex spaces that are constantly in use, and have various air quality requirements. According to analysis from City Hall, London, in 2022,3


indoor air quality is up to five times more


Pollutants found indoors and their effect on occupants When it comes to the pollutants found indoors, carbon dioxide is a good place to start, as it exists naturally in the atmosphere, being a molecule produced by the human body through breathing. A high concentration of CO2


means that there’s lack of fresh air, which can


have a significant impact on occupants – with effects including poor concentration, sleepiness, and potentially headaches. Overly high or low humidity levels can lead to mould and dust mites, which can provoke allergies, and trigger other respiratory problems like upper respiratory (nasal and throat) symptoms and general discomfort. VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) are emitted as


despite improvements in air quality,


every hospital, medical centre, and care home in the capital is in a location that breaches the World Health Organization’s (WHO) guidelines for nitrogen dioxide (NO2


) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5). The data


showed that while 91% of hospitals and medical centres meet the legal limits set by the UK, they do not meet the stricter WHO guidelines for NO2


, and all hospitals


and medical centres fail for PM2.5. This reflects a 2018 study4


by the British Lung Foundation, which found that


2,220 GP practices and 248 hospitals in England were in areas where outdoor PM2.5 concentrations exceeded the WHO’s recommended average annual levels of 10 µg/m3


PM2.5 down to 5 µg/m3


(in 2021 WHO revised the guideline value for ). In hospitals and healthcare


environments, air quality has been found to have a profound impact on patient health. A Boston-based physician, Dr. Stephanie Taylor, has undertaken years of research after realising that her patients in hospital were getting new infections despite extensive surface hygiene efforts, while her patients in a hospital in Papua New Guinea, with less resources, were not. What was the reason? This is where Dr. Taylor began to extend her research into how building architecture and air quality can have an effect on patients. In 2020, Dr. Taylor co-founded Building4Health to create a building performance metric using


(B4H),5


occupant health data to become ‘the most important next advance in improving public health’. The B4H mission is to lead the transformation of indoor air quality management through our medically based, data-driven approach for better health and efficiency.


May 2025 Health Estate Journal 77


gases from certain solids or liquids, and are found in items such as paints, cleaning supplies, pesticides, building materials and furnishings, office equipment, glues and adhesives, and permanent markers. These can cause eye, nose, and throat irritation, headaches, loss of coordination, and nausea.


Fine particles Fine particles are a mix of tiny solid and liquid particles in the air we breathe – many so small as to be invisible. They are considered mainly as outdoor air pollution, but they can be generated from indoor activities like burning candles, use of fireplaces, use of unvented space heaters


The Eclypse APEX, the most powerful of the Eclypse Connected Series Controllers, offers an enhanced cloud service solution that leverages built-in IoT Edge connectivity. Distech says it facilitates HVAC system maintenance, increases equipment efficiency, and optimises energy consumption, ‘by harnessing the latest available technology on site and/or from the cloud’.


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