10 Innovative Ways to Use IAQ Data for Healthy Buildings

For forward-thinking organizations, improving indoor air quality is a matter of strategic importance. Air quality impacts health, wellbeing, productivity, and employee satisfaction. With a workforce that’s more health-conscious than ever, and as the global race for talent picks up pace, ignoring it is a mistake that companies simply cannot afford to make.

But data alone is not enough, and many organizations struggle to take the next step: How do you translate measurements and metrics into a plan of action? How do you avoid analysis paralysis and start taking tangible steps to improve air quality in your buildings?

In this post, we’ve covered 10 crucial best practices in air quality monitoring, along with real-life examples of how you can go from data to action - applying the insights you get from IAQ data into real improvements in your day-to-day business operations.

How to Operationalize Air Quality Data: Real-Life Examples

Challenge: Air Filter Performance

Air filters are an essential component of HVAC systems. A filter that meets the HEPA standard can capture 99.97% of harmful contaminants and particles - including pollen, dirt, dust, moisture, bacteria, and viruses. This keeps the stream of air being pumped into the building clean and breathable.

However, air filters degrade over time. Over the course of its life, a filter will become clogged up due to dirt, debris, and dust accumulation. Clogged filters can lead to an undersupply of air, substantial loss of energy efficiency, noisy fan operations, reduced filter performance, and eventually damage to the filter itself.

Most organizations will periodically maintain and replace air filters - but this is far from ideal as factors such as weather and air pollution can have a drastic impact on a filter’s lifespan. Identifying underperforming air filters can help address problems when they’re still small and prevent periods of significantly worse air quality.

Solution: Assess Air Filter Efficiency by Measuring Particulate Matter Concentration

Particulate matter readings can provide actionable information about your HVAC system’s air filters. In commercial ventilation systems, MERV ratings indicate the efficiency of air filters. The higher the MERV rating, the greater the amount of particulate matter removed from the air passing through the filter. High-efficiency filters have higher pressure drops, which can increase energy costs.

If indoor particulate matter levels are high, this is a good indication that you may need to replace your air filters due to degradation, or invest in air filters with a higher MERV rating. If your indoor particulate matter levels are consistently low, this indicates that you could utilize a lower-efficiency air filter and save on energy.

Challenge: Identifying Sources of Toxic Materials

Various volatile organic compounds can have detrimental health effects, especially after prolonged exposure. A large number of VOCs are emitted from everyday household products like hair sprays, furniture polish, glues, air fresheners, moth repellents, and even your favorite perfume. They can also be found in building materials used in flooring, paint, or furniture.

Exposure to VOCs can lead to headaches, nausea, irritation of the eye, nose, and throat. In the long run, it can lead to worse adverse effects including lung damage. Organizations that are committed to employee health should prioritize finding and removing VOC emitters, but this is often easier said than done - especially in larger buildings that have undergone multiple rounds of renovation, where you might not always be aware of the exact materials used.

Solution: Monitor VOCs Throughout Your Building

Continuous IAQ monitoring is an effective way to identify the source of toxic or harmful chemicals indoors. By finding the source, you’re better equipped to take action - either by getting rid of it completely, or by cordoning it away from employee working areas.

With the data you collect from air quality monitors, you can get a full picture of TVOC levels throughout various locations within your building - e.g., the basement is a common area for industrial contaminants to be stored. Take note of locations that appear to have higher than average TVOC readings. This can be an indicator that materials found in those locations are off-gassing toxic by-products. When the source is discovered, it should be removed, replaced with healthier alternatives, or kept away from employees.

Challenge: Improving Ventilation Efficiency

In most commercial spaces in North America, maximum ventilation rates - i.e., the amount of fresh air in cubic feet per minute (cfm) that an air handler system brings into a building - is provided in proportion to the maximum occupancy of the building. This can be incredibly energy-inefficient.

Whereas many types of high-occupancy spaces, such as meeting rooms or dining areas, have ventilation systems designed for a high peak occupancy, it’s often the case that actual occupancy levels rarely approach these levels.

Furthermore, it’s not unusual for an air handler to operate at the maximum ventilation rate continuously, even if the space is only partially occupied. This often results in over-ventilation, causing higher than necessary energy costs.

Adjusting ventilation rates according to actual occupancy levels - known as demand-controlled ventilation (DCV) - makes buildings more sustainable and reduces energy costs.

Solution: Use Real-Time CO2 Sensors to Implement Demand- Controlled Ventilation

Because people exhale CO2, the more people in a given space, the higher the level of CO2 - which necessitates higher levels of ventilation. If you find CO2 levels that are consistently high in parts of your building at similar times each day, increasing ventilation rates to improve fresh air levels may be warranted. During periods when air quality can be maintained without changes in ventilation, you may consider reducing ventilation to potentially cut down on energy costs.

Using air quality monitors, you can track CO2 levels in real-time and feed that data into a DCV system to automatically adjust the ventilation rate based on the number of people in the space. This will ensure you ventilate based on actual rather than theoretical occupancy levels.

Challenge: Optimizing Ventilation Schedules Based on Outdoor Air Quality

Indoor air quality is directly impacted by the state of outdoor air. Pollutants found outside, especially particular matter, can seep into your building via windows, doors, and ventilation systems where filters have degraded or not been implemented correctly. This is especially important in periods or locations where outdoor air pollution is severe.

When outdoor air quality is poorer than indoors, you might want to reduce ventilation so as not to inadvertently introduce polluted air into your building.

Solution: Combine IAQ Monitoring with Outdoor Air Quality Data During Periods of Poor Ambient Air Quality

By combining both continuous indoor air quality monitoring with local outdoor air quality data, you can make real-time adjustments to HVAC schedules when outdoor air is known to be hazardous (such as during wildfire seasons).

Outdoor pollutants such as smoke and particulate matter can enter buildings through mechanical ventilation systems, which actively draw in outdoor air through intake vents and distribute it throughout the building. By keeping tabs on both indoor and outdoor IAQ data, you can reduce ventilation to the minimum needed to avoid stuffy conditions when outdoor air is known to be hazardous.

When outdoor air is needed due to high levels of VOCs or CO2 inside, you can put in proper filtration to prevent outdoor particulate matter from entering your space.

Challenge: Improving the Office Experience

The sluggish, exhausted, and drained feeling you experience during a two o’clock meeting may not be fatigue setting in. It could be partially to blame on carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the office. A 2012 study found a direct correlation between stuffy, overcrowded meeting rooms and your cognitive abilities and decision-making capabilities.

High levels of CO2 , which are commonly found in office meeting rooms, can make you feel drowsy, nauseous, and give you a headache. Improper ventilation is often to blame. Typically, CO2 levels range from 350-400 parts per million (ppm) in a healthy outdoor environment. In an office setting, CO2 levels of 350-1,000 ppm are considered acceptable, but CO2 concentrations can regularly exceed this in a meeting room.

Solution: Display CO2 Readings in Meeting Rooms

Display CO2 data in plain sight in conference or meeting rooms to see first-hand how CO2 levels impact productivity. Air quality monitors like the Sensedge have a large, bright screen to display CO2 readings for all to see.

You may also scale back your work meetings—we don’t think anyone will object! Set a time limit, a clear agenda, and try to limit the invite list. These simple steps can lower the CO2 in your meeting room and keep more employees on top of their mental game.

Challenge: Optimizing Routine Service Schedules

When most people envision a clean and healthy indoor environment, the image of a hygienic space with spotless surfaces may initially come to mind. But healthy buildings need clean air as much as they do clean surfaces.

Recent concerns over hygiene and sanitization have led to new cleaning protocols being implemented in a variety of businesses and commercial spaces. Unbeknownst to most, this has resulted in poor air quality for visitors, tenants, and building occupants: Disinfectants release volatile organic compounds and other chemical vapors into the air, and substances that contain ammonia or bleach are especially hazardous.

Solution: Analyze PM and VOC Trends During Work Hours to Adjust Daily Cleaning Schedules

Monitor trends and spikes of certain IAQ parameters during normal business hours or times when buildings are regularly occupied. Do PM and TVOC readings rise when scheduled daily cleaning takes place? Routine cleaning such as vacuuming can cause particulate matter to circulate without proper ventilation present. The same can be said about TVOC reading spikes coinciding with industrial cleaners being used on office surfaces.

Be sure to implement revised cleaning schedules that are done outside of occupant working hours, such as early mornings or late evenings. This will ensure pollutant levels have time to normalize by the time employees start making their way into the office.

Challenge: Boosting Confidence and Encouraging Return to In-Person Work

With talent being one of, if not the largest overhead in business operations, it’s never been more important for businesses to do everything they can to ensure the health and productivity of their employees, as well as their day-to-day sense of satisfaction at the workplace.

Due to recent coverage on the spread of airborne illness, as well as worsening global air quality in several parts of the world, concerns about indoor air quality are at an all-time high. The global COVID-19 pandemic has brought the discussion of IAQ monitoring to the forefront of the conversation for many businesses—employees are demanding transparent IAQ data to help boost confidence in a safe return-to-work strategy.

Solution: Showcase IAQ Data in Public Spaces

Installing IAQ monitors can give operations and facility teams visibility into building performance. But when you have accessible, visual data, you can go one step further by making it publicly available.

Providing a live IAQ dashboard and making it clearly visible - e.g., on a monitor set up in the building lobby or other high traffic space - can be a powerful tool to instill confidence in employees and visiting clients. Transparent reporting in real time will do much more to alleviate concerns than another email from the head of HR about your commitment to health and safety.

Challenge: Earning Points Towards Building Certifications

More and more building owners and operators are using building certification programs to assess the environmental and health attributes and performance of their buildings, find ways to improve, and gain external validation for their investments in these areas. Indoor air quality is significant for many certification programs including WELL, RESET, LEED, and Fitwel. These programs require you to monitor parameters such as TVOC and CO2 in order to gain points towards accreditation.

Solution: Use Continuous IAQ Monitoring to Achieve Certifications Such as WELL

Measuring air quality can get you closer to achieving many of these certifications. For example, air quality is the first concept of the WELL Standard, which provides a comprehensive framework for improving the air quality of your building.

WELL includes air quality monitoring and awareness as one of its features. Measuring and managing air quality can help you earn points towards a WELL Certification.

Challenge: Winning the War On Talent

Recruiting and retention are major problems for modern corporations. As talent becomes more selective when considering potential employers, companies can leverage healthier indoor environments as a competitive advantage in the war for talent - as well as a means to ensure employees aren’t regularly jumping ship and seeking new opportunities.

Investment in IAQ can elevate the employer brand and demonstrate that the company is committed to its employees. Over time, this can help businesses attract and retain workers. As competition for talent heats up, this is a potential edge you can’t afford to squander.

Solution: Share Air Quality Data to Differentiate Your Employer Brand

A recent study found that an overwhelming majority (82%) of millennials say they will feel safer returning to the office with access to real-time, transparent information on IAQ. While your business’s mileage may vary, it’s clear that the workforce today is more healthconscious in general, and also more specifically concerned about issues surrounding air quality and ventilation.

Installing IAQ monitors, collecting data, and using different ways to transparently communicate it to your employees is a great way to show your commitment to creating a healthy, productive, and inspiring workplace. Make it a top priority!

Challenge: Improving Business Performance and ESG Reporting

Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) considerations have become an important part of the investment process, and many investors now consider these factors alongside traditional financial metrics. Companies that invest in ESG are seen as better equipped to handle the regulatory and operational challenges of the future, as environmental concerns are only expected to become more dominant.

The trouble is that these aspects are often difficult to quantify, resulting in ESG reporting that feels noncommittal and full of fluff. As a result, companies that want to demonstrate their commitment to improving their ESG performance might struggle to demonstrate their progress.

Solution: Incorporate Air Quality Data and Standards in ESG Reporting

By collecting IAQ data, and comparing it to benchmarks set by certification programs and international standards, organizations can point to an objective and quantifiable metric that’s closely tied to their environmental and social responsibilities.

You can include air quality data and the efforts you have made towards improving IAQ in your annual ESG report, as well as in your shareholder, innovation, and CSR reports.

Prioritizing indoor air quality is no longer just an operational consideration—it’s a strategic imperative. By adopting data-driven approaches and implementing actionable solutions, organizations can create healthier, more efficient, and more appealing spaces for employees and occupants alike. As the landscape of work continues to evolve, those who lead with innovation and care in air quality management will not only gain a competitive edge but also build environments that foster lasting trust and success.

If you’re struggling to translate IAQ data into a plan of action, reach out to our team to see how we can help get the most out of your air quality monitoring!