Title: Reading Assignments
Course: WGF 106 DEVELOPMENT > Section: Content

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Sub-Title | Indoor Air Pollutants – Decontamination
Content
In the report "Review of Health and Productivity Gains from Better IEQ" written by William J. Fisk of the Indoor Environment Department at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, increased indoor air quality could result in the following monetary savings:

- estimated potential annual savings and productivity gains of $6 billion to $14 billion from reduced respiratory diseases;
- between $2 to $4 billion savings from reduced allergies and asthma;
- $10 to $30 billion in savings from reduced sick building syndrome symptoms; and
- $20 to $160 billion can be saved from direct improvements in worker performance that are unrelated to health.

The economic and public health benefits combined with today's interest in protecting the population from weapons of mass destruction have prompted renewed interest in methods of removing infectious or allergenic microorganisms from the air we breathe in indoor environments. Active decontamination technologies such as ultraviolet light (UV) and high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters have previously been used for germicidal air cleansing in infectious disease wards and laboratories.

However applying these decontamination processes or other experimental technologies to the high airflow ventilation systems of modern office buildings presents a new set of challenges. It requires a fundamental rethinking of many elements of HVAC design, from the location and security of air ducts, to the integrity and protection of air controls, and the organization, layout, and construction of the active decontamination components for the systems themselves

- Air Filtration
- Ultraviolet Irradiation
- New/Experimental Technologies
Links/Uploads | Air Decontamination – Whole Building Design Guide http://www.wbdg.org/resources/air_decon.php?r=ieq
Attributions | Image and Content courtesy of Whole Building Design Guide