Welcome to Camfil UK’s Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Blog

Welcome to our new blog- all about Indoor Air Quality or IAQ as we like to refer to it.  At Camfil Farr we believe that Clean Air is a human right and so we design high quality filtration solutions that meet the needs of sustainable ventilation by creating the right balance between healthy indoor air and energy savings.

This blog will highlight the issues surrounding indoor air quality, air pollution and its effect on human health.  Please have a look around, subscribe to our feed and comment on any posts that you find interesting!  We would love to hear from you….

Indoor Air Quality – Frequently Asked Questions

Article by Peter Dyment, Energy Consultant, Camfil Farr

Indoor Air Quality FAQs

There are many different ways our indoor air quality can become a problem. The basic properties of air that can easily vary are temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure.  Relatively small changes of temperature or humidity can make us feel uncomfortable.

Lastly but not least, air composition includes what we term air pollution. As we have become a crowded industrial nation this pollution has increased sharply over the last few decades.   Here are some frequently asked questions on Indoor Air Quality problems.

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Why Indoor Air Quality is important for personal health

Article by Peter Dyment, Energy Consultant, Camfil Farr

 Indoor Air Quality Air Pollution

I am like almost any other person on this planet. My aim is to live as long as possible and keep myself in good health for as long as I can.  So it came as a bit of a shock to discover that I could lose years off my life and many more years of healthy living and a good quality of life. How can this be? After all I live in modern industrial country with a high standard of living and medical care.

Modern living in cities and industrial areas turns out to be the source of the problem. Air pollution is not just on the outside, but also indoors where we work and at home. So what can I do to stop my health being damaged?

First of all I need to understand the problem. This is the gist of it.  We all have to breathe air to live. The air we breathe is mainly indoor air because we spend up to 90% of our time inside buildings according to recent studies.  The air inside buildings where we live and work should be clean and free from air pollution but often it turns out to carry a toxic mixture of traffic exhaust gases and fine dust particles coming in from the outside and from the inside bacteria with moulds, fungal spores and other small organic bodies and parasites.

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Why Air Quality is important in the workplace – A Facilities Managers guide

Building Facilities Managers need to maintain the Indoor Air Quality of their internal office areas for many reasons. Commercial buildings and offices are usually in a competitive leasing market and the tenant company occupying a building is often prepared to pay a premium rental for a building with good consistent Indoor Air Quality serving the work areas. This company will then know that its staff will be less hindered by illness and can work to maximum capability and efficiency.

Indoor Air Quality FM guideConversely fluctuating temperatures and humidity or airborne pollution can lead to poor Indoor Air Quality. These problems can mean the Sick Building Syndrome status is attributed to a building which may reduce its marketability and rental value.

Another important reason for maintaining clean indoor Air Quality is to preserve the décor and fabric of the building. Refurbishment costs to refit and decorate buildings internally are extremely expensive.  Therefore Facilities managers are keen to ensure their maintenance engineers make the Air Conditioning and Ventilation plant deliver clean Indoor Air Quality. The best guidance technical standard is EN13779:2007 and that advises minimum filter class F7 and advises F7 for best clean air quality. Using Low Energy Air Filters will deliver consistent long life performance while using the minimum amount of energy.

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