eBook

The New Indoor

Air Quality Trends
INTRODUCTION

Indoor Air Quality is crucial to ensuring healthy buildings.

Since we spend most of our time indoors compared to outdoors, the air we breathe,
whether in homes, offices, schools or hospitals, can increase the risk of health
problems. There are several factors and sources of pollution that make managing
indoor air quality (IAQ) a challenge to real estate property managers and building
engineers. Some of the pollutants are chemicals or gases, while others can be
microbes such as mold and pests. Real estate property managers and owners are
prioritizing IAQ and are taking steps to improve and sustain a healthy building as part
of their sustainability strategy. Read our eBook as we discuss 5 topics related to IAQ -
an introduction to IAQ, the importance of monitoring IAQ, the challenges in monitoring
IAQ, sample data and recent applications of IAQ monitors.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Part 1: What is Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)

05 The Standard Definition of IAQ

06 What Constitutes a Healthy IAQ?  

Part 2: The Impact & Importance of Monitoring IAQ

08 The Importance of Monitoring IAQ

09 Why Monitor IAQ?

10 Which Pollutants Should We Care About?

11 Indoor Air Quality Standards

Part 3: Challenges of IAQ Monitoring

13 Challenges of Monitoring IAQ

14 What Does IAQ Data Look Like?

15 Real-Time Monitoring Sample Data

16 Technology Insights - New IAQ Trends

Part 4: IAQ Monitoring Applications

20 IAQ Use Case - California Wildfires

21 IAQ Use Case - Real-Time Visibility & Alerts

22 IAQ Use Case - Construction

23 IAQ Use Case - Temperature & Humidity

23 IAQ Use Case - Carbon Dioxide in Office Space
23 IAQ Use Case - Carbon Monoxide
Part 1
What is Indoor Air Quality?
THE DEFINITION OF IAQ
WHAT IS THE STANDARD DEFINITION OF IAQ - IS THERE ONE?

Indoor Air Quality is a term that references the air inside of a building
that meets occupant requirements. The definition contains subjective
and objective components making it difficult to quantify.

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WHAT CONSTITUTES A HEALTHY IAQ?
Two main components dictate whether you have good IAQ:
1. IAQ should not have a negative impact on
health and productivity. This is somewhat
quantifiable due to studies conducted to
investigate how cognitive abilities can
be influenced by exposure to various air
pollutants.
2. Air quality should meet people’s
expectations of being “acceptable.” Occupants
should describe their environment as fresh
and pleasant. To an extent this is somewhat
“subjective.” People are relatively aware
of healthy indoor air quality or if there is a
dangerous level of pollutants in the air.
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Part 2
The Impact & Importance
of Monitoring IAQ
THE IMPORTANCE OF MONITORING IAQ

IAQ impacts the health and wellness of occupants.

Monitoring indoor air quality has become a priority in several buildings due to
the impact it has on the health and wellness of building occupants. Poor indoor
air quality is caused by a wide variety of issues such as pollutants, air borne
particles, chemicals and emissions from equipment inside the building. Poor
IAQ leads to many health issues such as asthma, sneezing, and an increase
in allergies as well as long-term illness such as heart disease and cancer in
extreme cases. This makes it even more important for buildings such as schools,
hospitals, and hotels to invest their resources in maintaining high IAQ.

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WHY MONITOR IAQ?

Monitoring IAQ ensures the benefit of:

Early warning of Hazards and

Measuring things we cannot easily perceive.
dangerous conditions.

Ability to track building and system

performance over time. Heating and cooling IAQ pollutants are present
systems degrade over time and may be everywhere - the levels matter.
polluting air with dust, mold, and more.

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WHICH POLLUTANTS SHOULD WE CARE ABOUT?

The graph below represents the number of years a person’s life is reduced due to poor IAQ.

Logue, Price, Sherman, Singer (2017) LBLN

One study conducted uses pollutant levels and its impact on Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALY). DALY is a measure of overall disease
burden, expressed as the number of years lost due to ill-health, disability or early death. With research being conducted, the importance of
monitoring continues to increase and standards continue to evolve. Experts have quantified pollutants that are harmful in some quantity to
human health. The graph above represents the number of years a persons life is reduced due to external factors i.e poor IAQ and exposure
to pollutants. It also illustrates life years lost based on exposure (per 100,000/yr). As you can see, PM 2.5 is one of the most influential
pollutants on a person’s DALY. On average it accounts for 1000 total years lost /100,000 people it affects. The second data point on the graph
is second hand smoke. It accounts for about 100 years lost for 100,000 affected by second hand smoke. With this data, the message is
consistent - one can positively impact health by limiting exposure to pollutants.

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INDOOR AIR QUALITY STANDARDS

Each organization has a differing set of standards.

Pollutant WHO EPA OSHA

3 3
PM2.5 25 µg/m (1 day avg.) 35 µg/m (1 day avg.) 5 ppm

3 3
PM10 50 µg/m (1 day avg.) 150 µg/m (1 day avg.) 15 ppm

3
SO2 20 µg/m (1 day avg.) 75 ppb (1 hr. avg.) 5 ppm (8 hr.
0.5 ppm (3 hr. avg.) avg.)

3
NO2 200 µg/m (1 hr. avg.) 53 ppb (1 yr. avg.) 5 ppm (8 hr.
3
40 µg/m (1 yr. avg.) 100 ppb (1 hr. avg.) avg.)

CO 10 ppm (8 hr. dose) 9 ppm (8 hr. avg.) 50 ppm (8 hr.

35 ppm (1 hr. avg.) dose)

Formaldehyde 0.1 ppm 0.1 ppm

IAQ pollutants are present everywhere and we are constantly breathing in various levels of Particulate Matter (PM), Volatile Organic
Compounds (VOCs), etc. It’s the levels that matter. Different organizations have set unique standards for what they quantify as being
acceptable levels of various pollutants. Above, we see 3 different organizations and the difference in standards they recommend for
maximum defined levels. The organizations also provide additional aspects of acceptable IAQ. For example, OSHA refers to ASHRAE 62.1
which defines building ventilation rates for acceptable IAQ. Healthy IAQ goes beyond organizations standards and some states have imposed
regulations to ensure healthy indoor environments. California and New Jersey have IAQ regulations that reference various contaminants
but IAQ levels are rarely defined. While there is no consensus on pollutants limits, organizations acknowledge that daily dose and exposure
averages over time matter. Extensive research in this field is still establishing and redefining standards for IAQ pollutants. As more indoor air
research continues forward, standards will similarly move to match science. As we learn more about health effects, more limits will be set
and redefined.

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Part 3
Challenges of
IAQ Monitoring
CHALLENGES IN MONITORING IAQ
CAN IAQ BE QUANTIFIED AT ALL? NOT EASILY.

Potential for high upfront equipment costs.

$ Initial equipment and installation costs require a significant investment
of time and money.

Inaccurate measurements.
Cross talks with other pollutants can skew results and lead to faulty
measurements.

Subjective perception of IAQ.

Some occupants are more sensitive to some pollutants. Others who are less
sensitive may not discuss effects on cognitive ability.

Uncontrolled environments.
There are 100s of 1000s of compounds and particles that affect us and
our health; however, not all are measurable without precise controlled
environments and equipment.

Difficulty to measure in low concentration.

Certain compounds are hard to measure in low concentration. For example,
measuring Particulate Matter (PM) with a sensor that is meant to measure at
2.5 microns or greater will be effective in measuring cigarette smoke (particle
diameter of 2.5 micron) but ineffective in measuring the levels of PM of wood
burning or food cooking as they do not meet the threshold of the sensor.

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WHAT DOES IAQ DATA LOOK LIKE?
TIME INTEGRATED VS. REAL-TIME SAMPLING
When discussing IAQ data there are two type of data that people use.
Time-Integrated
Time-integrated is a one off sample set in
which you put out a sensor, (i.e radon puck)
to collect data over a given amount of time
- week, month, etc. The pollutant is captured
and is sent to a laboratory and you receive
an average quantity of pollutant. This type of
sampling is sufficient for certain situations
when needing to know an average level -
for example radon is known to be variable.
Although this type of data can be beneficial,
there are also some issues. Mainly, the
sampling provides information after the
fact, preventing you from learning about a
dangerous situation as it occurs. This makes it
less helpful than knowing about situation and
the trends beforehand so you can take action
to bring yourself into a safe environment.
Real-Time
Real-time monitoring provides you with
visibility into your IAQ immediately. With real-
time IAQ sensors you can monitor several
pollutants and create thresholds for each
individual pollutant. By monitoring specific
pollutants in real-time, you gain visibility into
trends and are able to take proactive actions/
measures in order to bring yourself or building
occupants out of potentially dangerous
situations. With real-time IAQ monitoring,
you are also able to maintain mechanical
equipment that shows degradation based
on air quality profiles being measured. It is
increasingly important to know both if IAQ
reaches unhealthy levels and also when it
reaches those levels. Real-time gives you
clear visibility of specific trends and events.
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REAL-TIME MONITORING SAMPLE DATA
The graph below shows real-time CO2 monitoring with two different thresholds.
The graph illustrates CO2 data over time. In this
instance, two separate thresholds have been
created - 1000 parts per million for a warning
alert and 2000 parts per million for a critical
warning level. With this real-time IAQ monitoring,
the facility manager or building engineer receives
real-time alerts via email as levels of CO2 reach
thresholds. This enables proactive action to
happen to reduce critical levels of CO2.
If this was time-integrated sampling it would be
the average of all data so the value might actually
appear below the 1000 threshold; however, when
looking at real-time data you can see instances
when CO2 levels went above the 1000 threshold
and when CO2 levels got close to the critical
warning level. You wouldn’t normally receive this
data if looking at a time-integrated sample but
can easily see with real-time samples.
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TECHNOLOGY INSIGHTS - NEW IAQ TRENDS

What is being done today and what are the new trends in IAQ monitoring?

Single Point Measurements Continuous Monitoring

Unreliable as pollutants vary Real-Time IAQ conditions with alerts

Expensive Multiple sensors within the building

Cost effective
Continuous Monitoring Available but:
Wireless

Usually wired Cloud Based

Very Expensive Flexible to adapt to new standards

Quickly Obsolete Simple Installation

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TECHNOLOGY INSIGHTS - NEW IAQ TRENDS

As new research is conducted and standards are imposed, new solutions are created.
Real-Time IAQ sensors allow you to:

Receive real-time alerts if thresholds are met. Install devices simply due to
wireless solution.

Save money - Sensors are very cost effective. Monitor data in the cloud where
various analytics can be run.

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TECHNOLOGY INSIGHTS - NEW IAQ TRENDS

New IAQ sensors integrate seamlessly and unobtrusively.

New IAQ devices are unobtrusive and can be

placed on a wall to begin collecting different
IAQ data - providing you with trends every
minute. There are different packages on
the market depending on what you want to
achieve and which standards you want to
follow. You can monitor several data points
within one device. Some include - Particulate
Matter (PM), Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Volatile
Organic Compound (VOC), Ozone (O3) and
more. You can go further and be compliant
with WELL Building Standards and monitor
Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) and Formaldehyde
(HCHO).

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Part 4
IAQ Monitoring
Applications
IAQ USE CASES

2017 California Wildfires

One application of IAQ sensors involves the Bay Area fires in 2017. The IAQ in buildings was very poor due
to impact of fire. A company installed IAQ monitors across facilities in order to receive real-time data and
determine various pollutant levels
IAQ Monitoring Results: IAQ monitoring gave them visibility to determine whether or not they allowed outside
air to enter the building. They were able to see outside conditions such as wind direction and speed. After
diagnosis, they could determine that the air entering the building had much higher Particulate Matter levels
than normal and the building filter was unable to filter it. Based on Particulate Matter (PM) level and data, the
company adjusted the HVAC settings to stop or reduce outside air bringing in when Particulate Matter (PM)
high. Not only was the company able to adapt to IAQ conditions, they were able to show building occupants
in real-time that IAQ was compliant with standards. The company shared, “within a day of ordering the
system, we were up and running, gathering important data and implementing measures to improve
conditions immediately.”

Air Quality reduced by Real-Time Monitoring Real-Time Compliance

sustained wildfires
No visibility on vulnerable areas within
the building to come up with an effective
solution for the critical IAQ issue.
and Reports
Perform what-if analysis on different
building HVAC settings (e.g. compare air
tightness and filtration efficiency) and
measure impact on IAQ in real-time.
Reduced in real time Outdoor Air rates
during the peak Particulate Matter
(PM2.5) conditions. This helped keep
PM 2.5 levels within standards.

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IAQ USE CASES

Real-Time Visibility & Alerts

Monitoring levels is difficult to interpret. Air Quality standards and recommendations are sourced from the
EPA and the Well Building Standard. The EPA Air Quality Index provides numbers between 0-500 based
on danger levels for different pollutants. For example, a Moderate Air Quality Index of 52 may lead to
respiratory systems in unusually sensitive individuals and possible aggravation of heart or lung disease in
people with cardiopulmonary disease and older adults. An Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups Air Quality Index
of 120 has increased likelihood of respiratory symptoms in sensitive groups including older adults, children,
and people of lower socioeconomic status as well as aggravation of heart or lung disease and premature
mortality in people with heart or lung disease.
IAQ Monitoring Results: Real-time air quality monitoring allows you to see data in real-time enabling better
decision making.

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IAQ USE CASES

Construction
Real-time IAQ monitoring can be useful in several aspects of construction projects - from IAQ flush outs to
renovations. Often times construction happening in one section of the building impacts the whole building
i.e- spread of pollutants created by projects.
IAQ Monitoring Results: By monitoring IAQ in real-time during construction projects, companies are able to:
• Protect and monitor occupied zones of the building when there is construction or renovation.
• Protect workers and equipment sensitive to IAQ such as servers, etc.
• Provide protection from liability of health issues or equipment failure.
• Provide data that enables building engineers to be proactive in maintaining a healthy IAQ i.e - adding
additional HVAC filtering.

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IAQ USE CASES

Temperature & Humidity

While discussing IAQ, sometimes we overlook the most basic data points that impact occupants
health and comfort in a building. Many of the tickets that property managers and engineers
respond to are often related to temperature discomfort. Although many buildings have a BMS that
monitors these temperatures in different areas, often no one looks at the data.
IAQ Monitoring Results: With real-time monitoring, you can place sensors in those areas and show
tenants real-time data, reduce hot and cold tickets, and inform engineers for changes to HVAC settings.

Carbon Dioxide in Office Space

Real-time monitoring of CO2 has become increasingly important as research has verified its
impact on productivity and cognitive tasks. When levels of CO2 are above 1000 ppm, people
complain about drowsiness. Studies show that if you increase ppm levels by 100 you can impact
the capacity for people to make critical decisions. Conference rooms are especially important to
have fresh air filtered in often.
IAQ Monitoring Results: Ensure CO2 levels are always below 800 pm enabling an efficient HVAC system.

Carbon Monoxide
Many places have detectors but based on latest standards, for example WELL Building Standards,
it’s recommended to monitor Carbon Monoxide in real-time around kitchens, boiler rooms, etc.
This ensures that CO levels don’t meet critical thresholds. Basic CO detectors trigger an alarm at
700 ppm within 1-4 hours or 400 ppm between 4-15 minutes. Usually it is too late. According to
ASHRAE standards, exposure to CO levels of 9ppm is dangerous.
IAQ Monitoring Results: With real-time CO monitoring you know you if and when your need to
investigate - enabling proactive behavior.

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CARE ABOUT YOUR AIR

Care about your air.

Indoor Air Quality is becoming an important aspect of building and occupant health. All buildings
face IAQ challenges and should begin implementing an IAQ strategy. IAQ monitoring solutions
represent a new class of IoT devices that were built to produce actionable insights in the
commercial and industrial marketplace at a fraction of the cost. The industry is wholly unprepared
for the need to incorporate IAQ sensing into the built environment. Industry demand fueled by tenant
demands, portfolio initiatives, and government regulation will ensure that the market for IAQ sensing
will be dominated by the market of existing buildings.

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