The Science of Getting Better IAQ

I'm reading a book called "The Science and Technology of Growing Young" by Sergey Young. Part of the book discusses how technology is going to change the medical establishment. One of the ways talks about how there will be technologies either imbedded and/or attached to our bodies that will collect a wide range of data (think iWatch or FitBit on steroids) so that we can be more proactive when it comes to our health than reactive - which is what we have now (IE You feel sick you go to the doctor). In essence, the clearer we can track important personal health data, the more likely we can prevent something serious from happening to us (IE Catch cancer early and chances of survival go up dramatically).?

When it comes to IAQ there are striking similarities with this approach. Presently, the vast majority of buildings take a very reactive approach when it comes to IAQ (IE. We wait to smell something, and then act upon it). However, if we put IAQ sensors in our buildings and collect important data like CO2 levels, VOC levels, and particle counts, we would at least have a better understanding of what our IAQ looks like and be notified well in advance if something falls out of the acceptable ranges.?

For those of you who are not familiar with what this data means and why it’s important, let’s get a better understanding:?

·??????CO2, or carbon dioxide, levels give us a sense of the buildings’ ventilation. If the CO2 levels are high, that would not be good. Generally, a room should have between 400 and 1000 parts per million/ppm of CO2.?

·??????VOCs, or volatile organic compounds, are defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary?as any of various organic chemical compounds (as formaldehyde or gasoline) that evaporate quickly especially from solvents, adhesives, fuels, or industrial wastes and that contribute to photochemical smog in the atmosphere. Fresh paint, bleach, cleaning products, and surface disinfectants are examples of products that may have harmful amounts of VOCs that can cause asthma and other respiratory complications. VOCs like perchloroethylene, for example, which is typical of cleaning supplies, should be below 50 ppm.

·??????Particles we are referring to are 2.5 micron in size or smaller. These particles are not visible by the human eye and are small enough to go into your blood stream and cause allergies, asthma, or - if the particle happens to be a virus or bacteria – can cause sickness and/or death – as we’ve already witnessed.?

By using IAQ sensors that collect this data, we can track this data initially to see if we need to make any changes.?

Just as new technology will move our medical establishment from reactionary to proactive over the next 5-10 years, we can do the same with IAQ today!??

Following along with this data is tracking IAQ improvements before and after making any recommended upgrades that are projected to make your IAQ better.??When we upgrade an old air handling unit and move from Merv8 to Merv13, which – in theory – both improves ventilation and reduces risk of airborne contaminants and pathogens, how do we know how effective that investment was? Some people track air flow, which is a good measure for air movement and in theory helps break up clusters of airborne pathogens. The problem is that airflow can also carry contaminants in it and airflow doesn’t hit every part of a room. Just like any data analysis, looking at multiple variables of data is going to offer you the best understanding of what’s really happening. If you really want to know if your improvements are performing, you should have an independent engineer test the air for VOCs, CO2, 2.5M and particles. If you see a significant improvement with this data (decrease in VOCs, CO2 at good levels, reduction of particles), then you’ve validated the performance of those upgrades. After that is done, your IAQ sensors can continue to monitor this data 24/7.??