We spend 90% of our time indoors, so the quality of the air inside your office buildings and other corporate properties can have a massive impact on your health and well-being. Modern HVAC filtration systems, such as appropriately-rated MERV and HEPA filters, are an important solution for keeping your building’s air quality in check, but they are only part of the path to healthier air and healthier occupants.
Good commercial indoor air quality makes employees feel better, perform better, and get sick less. In this article, we’ll go further than filters and explore advanced solutions you can take advantage of to keep your air clean and your occupants comfortable.
Discover the Secrets to Better Air Quality with HVAC Systems
Optimizing your building’s air quality involves a multifaceted approach that goes well beyond filtration systems. Building engineers, facility managers, and HVAC specialists working together can outfit any commercial property with appropriate cutting-edge technological solutions to improve indoor air quality and create healthier workplaces.
In addition to keeping your HVAC’s filtration systems working properly, you can integrate technologies into your building’s climate control systems, such as:
Advanced HVAC Controls and Demand-Controlled Ventilation (DCV)
Demand-controlled ventilation automatically adjusts your HVAC system’s ventilation state in real-time. By using CO₂ sensors and occupancy data, DCV enhances indoor air quality based on real-time conditions while saving energy by avoiding over-ventilation when rooms are unoccupied. If your office integrates smart HVAC technology, DCV is a natural fit to optimize your ventilation systems and improve air quality.
Active Air Purification Technologies
In a previous blog on hospital HVAC systems, we touched on the ways hospitals and healthcare facilities use advanced technologies such as Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI). UVGI systems are a form of active air purification technology that improves indoor air quality by inactivating airborne microorganisms and disinfecting incoming outdoor air before it enters the building.
If your building’s sanitary needs and demands for indoor air quality are especially strict—for example, in healthcare settings, airports, or high-traffic office buildings—Bipolar Ionization (BPI), which releases ions that bind to particles and neutralize microbes, and Photocatalytic Oxidation (PCO), which uses UV light and a catalyst to oxidize and break down organic pollutants, may be options for your building’s HVAC systems. These advanced technologies must be properly installed and maintained, however, to avoid the health risks of ozone or byproduct generation.
Optimized Ventilation with Outdoor Air Monitoring
Especially in Colorado, outdoor air quality can have a significant impact on indoor air quality. When wildfire season comes around, HVAC systems have to work harder to ensure the indoor air stays clean even when the outdoor air quality is particularly poor. By integrating outdoor air quality sensors with building automation systems (BAS), you can automatically limit intake of polluted outdoor air during poor air quality events.
Source Control and Low-Emission Building Materials
When renovating your office building, your choice of paints, adhesives, cleaning products, or even new furniture can emit pollutants into the air. By specifying materials with low or zero Volatile Organic Compound VOC emissions (for example, GREENGUARD Gold or Cradle to Cradle certified materials), you can reduce the hidden risks of VOC off-gassing within your building to promote the health and satisfaction of your occupants.
Humidity Control and Moisture Management
Out-of-control humidity and moisture are serious threats to commercial indoor air quality. When mold takes root in your building’s ventilation systems, it can breed pathogens like Legionnaire’s Disease and cause health crises. Maintaining proper humidity levels (between 40–60%) inhibits mold growth and makes it harder for airborne viruses to survive in and spread through your ventilation systems.
To control and limit humidity and moisture in your building, you can integrate smart controls with your humidifiers and dehumidifiers. These controls can empower you to continuously monitor RH levels and adjust your HVAC system operations accordingly.
Continuous Indoor Air Quality Monitoring and Data Feedback
Regular commercial indoor air quality testing ensures that your efforts to improve air quality are working. With IoT sensors, you can track metrics such as CO₂, PM2.5, VOCs, humidity, and temperature in real-time.
When linked to smart HVAC systems, this data can drive automated HVAC responses in real-time to keep up with changing indoor air conditions to maintain a baseline level of air quality across your building.
Zoning and Airflow Management
One of the most powerful features of modern commercial HVAC systems—particularly those with integrated smart technology—is zoning. Smart airflow management allows you to split your building into various zones, each of which can be tailored independently from each other.
Optimizing ventilation by zone improves the HVAC efficiency and air quality of occupied areas and reduces risks of cross-contamination between spaces (for example, restrooms, break rooms, labs).
Green Infrastructure and Indoor Plants
If you have the ability to integrate them into your building, green walls (also known as “living walls”) and indoor plant systems can passively remove certain pollutants from the air. While these solutions can help, their ability to improve commercial indoor air quality is modest compared to other technological solutions.
What these solutions really help with is improving the perceived air freshness of your building and the indoor acoustics, which can make the air feel fresher and improve your employees’ mental and psychological well-being. In conjunction with some of these other strategies to improve indoor air quality, they can make your workplace feel significantly cleaner and fresher.
Take Advantage of Indoor Air Quality Services
A catch-all solution to your air quality woes is to call on the professionals for help. For businesses across the Colorado Front Range, Chiller Systems Service leverages extensive technical expertise to provide cutting-edge air quality solutions that fit your building’s layout and climate control needs like a glove. Through our proven process, we deliver best-value, turn-key solutions that are as unique as your building and tailored to fit your budget and business priorities.
Take the right steps toward better commercial indoor air quality today. Reach out to our team and discover what Chiller can do for your business. Contact us today!
FAQs
What are the benefits of improving commercial indoor air quality?
Improving commercial indoor air quality can enhance employee health and well-being, increase productivity, and reduce the frequency of illness among occupants.
How does Demand-Controlled Ventilation (DCV) improve indoor air quality?
DCV uses CO₂ sensors and occupancy data to adjust ventilation in real-time, enhancing air quality while saving energy by avoiding over-ventilation in unoccupied rooms.
What advanced air purification technologies can be integrated into HVAC systems?
Technologies like Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI), Bipolar Ionization (BPI), and Photocatalytic Oxidation (PCO) can be integrated to inactivate airborne microorganisms and neutralize pollutants.
How can outdoor air quality affect indoor environments, and what can be done?
Poor outdoor air quality, especially during events like wildfires, can impact indoor air. Integrating outdoor air quality sensors with building automation systems can help manage air intake during such events.
What role do green infrastructure and indoor plants play in air quality?
Green walls and indoor plants can modestly improve air quality by removing certain pollutants and enhancing perceived air freshness, contributing to better mental and psychological well-being.