Let’s look at some of the factors that can negatively affect your facility’s indoor air quality.
Unpredictable daily temperatures and weather patterns might seem like minor inconveniences for you and your employees. However, these inconveniences can lead to larger problems. Because of late spring seasonal allergies, your employees are more likely to feel sick when they should be at their most productive. Being in an environment that exhibits symptoms of sick building syndrome won’t help. Let’s look at some of the factors that can negatively affect your facility’s indoor air quality.
Natural Contaminants
Natural contaminants that affect indoor air quality occur so frequently that you and your workers might not even realize how much they change the air you breathe. Heavy spring rains can contribute to mold infestations that are hidden out of sight and consequently, are out of mind. Bacteria can build up on any surface, especially on keyboards and desk phones – equipment that your workers spend most of their day touching.
Dust can build up in offices and other rooms that are hardly ever visited or are not cleaned as often as necessary. Although older buildings typically face these air quality issues, it’s essential to acknowledge that these problems can plague new buildings as well.
Chemical Contaminants
Chemical contaminants present another hazard to the indoor air quality of your building. Think about the presence of smoke and carbon monoxide in your facility. Fumes from fresh paint and powerful cleaning chemicals can also affect the air too, even if it might not be immediately apparent.
Environmental Contaminants
Is your office currently being remodeled? What if there is an active construction site nearby? Spring is notorious for its high winds, and the wind can carry debris from other sites and deposit it near or even inside your buildings. Dust, dirt, steam, and smoke from other places can affect your indoor air quality as well.
Health Consequences
Sometimes, common allergic reactions such as the sneezing and coughing mentioned earlier along with congestion, watering eyes, and runny noses are dismissed as being caused by allergies. Still, these can be reactions to the presence of the contaminants already discussed. For the employees who have been diagnosed with asthma, the presence of allergens can make it harder for them to breathe and by extension feel comfortable enough to focus on their work. Plus, long-term exposure to these contaminants along with other factors such as asbestos, that serious conditions such as heart conditions, respiratory problems, and even cancer can result.
What You Can Do
What you can do includes addressing mold growth and cleaning up any spills or leaks that happen. Leaks from can come from cooling tower tanks and the refrigerant used by your commercial HVAC units. You could also increase the number of office plants you include in the office to oxygenate individual rooms. Replace filters and have HVAC ductwork cleaned out on a regular basis. Opening windows and doors to welcome in fresh air can be a solution too, just be mindful that additional allergens can infiltrate your building when you do this.
Crockett Facilities Can Help!
Crockett Facilities Services, Inc. (CFSI) is committed to helping building owners, property managers, engineers, and facility professionals lower their operating expenses through HVAC preventive maintenance. We can develop a cost-effective, customized preventive maintenance plan for your commercial building that will provide you with peace of mind, improved comfort, and energy savings.
To learn more about the importance of HVAC Preventive Maintenance, please contact us at 202.600.2787 or mford@crockett-facilities.com. Our PM contract customers receive priority service with 24/7 emergency service in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC.