HEATING, VENTILATION & SERVICES
New wellness priorities
Thain Gummer of LG Electronics looks at best practice for optimising indoor air quality and reducing risks – including using proper HVAC maintenance, monitoring, and certain types of air purification technology
ith increasing awareness that poor indoor air quality (IAQ) is affecting a majority of people in the UK – both at home and at work – it is important to take a closer look at the issues we face and the solutions that exist.
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This is especially the case for self- builders who have the opportunity to access as much support as they need for improving IAQ in their new homes. A robust approach to ensuring the Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) equipment in home is vital, especially for those with family members susceptible to allergies and poor air quality. Outdoor air pollution can make its way indoors as well of course, including pollution from traffic, industry, fossil fuel burning and pesticides – all of which can emit fine particles, CO2
VOCs. Environmental allergens, bacteria and viruses affect 15% of the EU and UK population in a normal year – which becomes a figure many times that when Covid-19 is circulating. The ‘high season’ for environmental problems is February through to August, while hay fever seems to occur all year round. Indoor air pollution sources include pollutants from fuel-burning combustion appliances, odours such as those from tobacco products, VOCs produced by building materials and furnishings, products for household cleaning, personal care and hobbies, and mould resulting from excess moisture. On top of this, you have extreme weather conditions adding to the issues – with heat waves causing poor indoor air quality due to ozone and particulate pollution. With the rising concern for quality indoor air, using best practice for operation and maintenance of HVAC systems to optimise indoor air quality while reducing risks is more important than ever before. Studies have shown that air pollution can negatively impact our health, and the global pandemic focused us on the adverse health
, NOx may/jun 2023 and
effects caused by inefficient entilation. In areas with a higher concentration of pollution, research has found that this lower air quality can exacerbate a number of health conditions, including respiratory diseases and cardiovascular damage, and is linked to premature mortality worldwide.
iltration and purification are ital in
solving the problems surrounding IAQ. As well as being able to monitor it we need to be able to differentiate between levels of pollutants to work out how clean is clean. We need to be able to monitor the air – which involves the use of particulate matter sensing. The majority of HVAC equipment these days now has a sensor
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