WHETHER at home or in our respective workplaces, we spend much of our lives breathing indoor air that is often contaminated by numerous pollutants.
Prior to the community quarantines that we’ve needed to be in, we are already spending around 85 percent of our lives indoors.
Nowadays, we spend practically all our time inside houses or buildings.
This is the reason why now, more than ever, air quality is a crucial element not only in managing existing residential and office spaces but also in the planning and designing of properties for development in the new normal.
Indoor air quality: Crucial yet oft-ignored
Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is the term for air quality within and around buildings and structures, especially related to the health and comfort of building occupants.
It should be noted, however, that even before the outbreak of Covid-19, the global market for the IAQ category has been predicted to already grow, due to obvious factors such as pollution and its overall effects on wellness. In fact, poor IAQ has been said to contribute to poor health like asthma, nausea and eye irritation. It can even affect concentration, mood and energy levels.
According to the World Health Organization, “Air pollution kills an estimated 7 million people worldwide every year. WHO data shows that 9 out of 10 people breathe air containing high levels of pollutants.”
The WHO said that these deaths are “largely a result of increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections.”
The surprising thing is that I’ve come across studies that claim that in terms of property purchase, air quality is not one of the three main factors that people consider when buying residential property. The most common factors in buying a house were price, location and amenities—which are, to a certain extent, understandable.
But among all environmental issues out there, air pollution is actually the most relevant for the property sector, with its direct adverse effects on human lives. In fact, the IAQ of a space is one of the most important considerations for occupant wellness.
Improving air quality and property management
In a time when people have become increasingly conscious of the air they breathe, it would be wise for property managers to exert extra effort in ensuring that the IAQ of the spaces they manage are within acceptable levels.
Regular testing of air in the residential or office space is imperative to identify any potential threats. It is crucial to test for all possible contaminants to ensure that they are checking for all possible hazards. Another important way to improve IAQ is the use of an effective air purifier system.
We all know that Los Angeles is not actually known to have clean air. But even before California’s shelter-at-home initiatives started, the Los Angeles International Airport has gotten rave reviews in terms of how its indoor air quality has tremendously improved. And to think that LAX is ranked as the world’s fourth busiest airport in terms of total passenger traffic.
The reason for the improvement is the ongoing LAX Air Quality Improvement Plan, a major part of which is the use of an air purifier system that neutralizes the pollutants and allergens carried by the thousands of people who go through the airport every single day.
According to the Airport Improvement web site, “the significant reduction in dust, allergens and mold spores has been stunning,” since the airport started using AtmosAir, a state-of-the-art air purifier system.
This air purifier system was able to deliver bipolar ions directly into the air supply thus providing cleaner and healthier air to the vastly populated indoor sections of the airport. Since LAX started using the system, there have been less odors, bacteria, viruses, and molds while substantially improving indoor air in food court areas.
Another venue that has benefited from the same system is none other than the home of the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers—the famous Staples Center, which accommodates up to 20,000 people for hockey and basketball games and concerts.
According to Michael Dargani, CEO of Ananta Industries, local distributor of AtmosAir, IAQ has always been an important issue but because air is invisible, it tends to get overlooked. “The air we breathe is a shared resource. Now more than ever, companies and property owners need to protect their most important assets: their people. Ensuring that there are no compromises with indoor air quality is a non-negotiable,” he stressed.
Air quality in the time of Covid-19
While pollution levels have drastically gone down during the quarantine period for obvious reasons, the truth is that pollution may once again spike once we start going out of our homes when the lockdowns are eased.
And while WHO has been adamant about Covid-19 not being airborne, there are still studies that say it is possible. Dr. Philip M. Tierno Jr., professor of Microbiology & Pathology at the New York University School of Medicine stated last March that although Covid-19 is clearly spread through person-to-person transmission, it is spread in the air as well.
And so, with the possibility of the aerosolized spread of Covid-19 and the ability of particles to hang in the air for extended periods of time, an active air cleaning strategy would be especially advised for households, according to Tierno. This is something we should take into consideration as the ECQ is extended, modified, or even lifted.
It is also especially important to consider an active air purifying strategy as establishments such as malls and restaurants reopen. Whether or not air purifiers help mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus, having a quality air cleaning strategy in our residential properties or office spaces would be useful for all of us in more ways than one.
Image credits: lawa.org