Who doesn’t love to breathe fresh, clean air? For millennia, we’ve associated fresh air with the outdoors. The reality, though, is that today, most people spend 90% or more of our time inside, and our planet is changing, fast. So, what’s so bad about our indoor air? Here are five reasons why you should care about indoor air quality and why it’s even more important to have fresh air in our workplaces, schools, hospitals, homes, and other indoor spaces. The good news is that a new technology is available to make this both possible and affordable.
1. New air pollution challenges. Climate change is giving rise to more wildfires, dust, and other pollutants. And these can travel thousands of miles. Fact: The smoke from a California wildfire can directly affect air quality in New England.
Outside, the co-exposure of high air pollution and extreme heat can be especially deadly, with 21% more deaths than when just one is present.
Increased air pollution causes indoor hazards, too, with roughly half of the outdoor air pollution being found inside buildings. Meanwhile, there are other unique indoor threats (see below). With better building insulation, pollutants accumulate more effectively indoors. According to the EPA, total indoor pollution levels may be two to five times higher than outside – sometimes much more. When you combine these facts with people spending much more of their time inside, it’s easy to understand that people’s health is much more impacted by pollutants inside than outside–unless proactive steps are taken to clean that indoor air.
2. Disease transmission risks. The risk of airborne viral transmission—in particular coronavirus, but other viruses as well such as RSV—is far greater inside than outside. COVID is spread by infectious aerosols just one micron in size or smaller. (They are about 1/70th the width of a human hair and can’t be seen by the human eye.) While a light outdoor breeze can dissipate and dilute these tiny particles, doing the same indoors as per CDC and ASHRAE recommendations would require far more fresh air ventilation and therefore much more energy and filter replacements. On the other hand, air purifiers fitted with HEPA filters can remove nearly 100% of viral and other particles.
3. Lower productivity and concentration. Poor indoor air quality contributes to poor concentration and productivity in employees and students. Dr. Joseph Allen, Director of the Healthy Buildings program and associate professor of exposure assessment science at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, has led extensive research on this topic (some of his findings can be found in his book with John Macomber, Healthy Buildings). In a one-year study across six countries, for example, the Chan School team found that increased concentration of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and increased CO2 levels were associated with slower response times and reduced accuracy on cognitive tests.
A simple application of a general estimation that people costs to businesses are typically about 100X more than utility costs highlights how companies can leverage a relatively inexpensive improvement in air quality to produce a significant and profitable improvement in employee performance.
4. High indoor VOC levels. Love that new furniture smell? What you’re smelling is actually chemicals off-gassed from synthetics used in their materials. Similar volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are found in carpets, laminated flooring, pressed woods, personal care products, cleaning products, and more. They significantly contribute to higher concentrations of pollutants indoors than outdoors.
5. Adverse health impact. Put all of the above together and it’s not surprising that poor indoor air quality contributes to a host of health problems including respiratory diseases, heart disease, COPD, cancer, viruses, bacterial infections, dementia, headaches, dizziness, and fatigue.
Upgrading HVAC systems with MERV-13 filters per recent ASHRAE recommendations can’t address many of these conditions; they simply aren’t capable of filtering out most of the PM 1.0 particles that contribute to so many of these problems.
Improved ventilation can significantly improve indoor air quality in some cases, but it can also bring more of those outdoor pollutants inside. And it’s expensive. Cold outdoor winter air needs to be heated; hot and muggy outdoor summer air needs to be dehumidified and then cooled. When buildings are equipped with HEPA filters, just like MERV filters, they require replacing after a few months and are even more energy intensive and expensive, contributing to high costs and waste.
A new type of air purification technology, though, can affordably and sustainably improve indoor air quality. These self-cleaning systems combine HEPA grade filtration and thermal catalysis. In just minutes a month, these devices destroy the collected pollutants, converting them into water and air. Unlike other air purification systems, the filters do not act as an increasingly congested reservoir of particulates, viruses, bacteria, and mold. By eliminating particles that fill up and clog the filters, which increases the back pressure and energy needed for the old systems to pull air through, these new systems reduce the frequent need to replace filters, which in turn reduces costs. Over time, organizations could save up to 65% compared to typical HEPA air purification systems.
These new, self-cleaning HEPA air filtration systems are the path to healthy buildings and healthier, happier, and more productive employees.
Tatama Air Cleaner
For commercial new construction or retrofits into existing facilities
Tatama uses Metalmark’s advanced HEPA-grade filters to capture airborne particulates, smoke, VOCs, and pathogens, including viruses and bacteria.
Sierra Air Filters
For your existing commercial HVAC systems
The HVAC filter with enhanced protection against wildfire smoke. A simple drop-in replacement with no change to air flow or pressure.
