Entries from February 2009 ↓

Ventilation. Increase the ventilation, or improve the current ventilation system. Make sure the system and any filters are properly maintained. There should be enough supply of natural fresh air into the building or residence.

Air Treatment. Treat the air with air filtration devices designed to clean the air. Control the air temperature and humidity levels appropriately.

Other tips for improving air quality can be as simple as plants. There plants can help to clean your indoor air: peace lily, bamboo palm, English ivy, mums, and gerbera daisies.

Sick Building Symdrome condition show symtoms of headache, nausea, dizziness, eye, respiratory irritation, muscle pain, etc. The symtoms disapear when the worker or homeowner leaves to live or work in another buliding.

Some problems with outdoor wood boilers.

When you see smoke pouring out of an outdoor wood boiler, this is a signal of incomplete combustion.

Another problem is the intermittent heat demand that occurs with use of the furnaces. When demand is low the wood will smolder, which then builds up creosote. Once the demand rises and intensity increases the creosote is burned off in the form of black soot into the air.

The furnaces being stand alone units means the stack is quite low to the ground, thus the smoke and soot can drift more easily into occupied spaces.

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Symptoms of poor IAQ are as seeming simple as an odd smell in the air, to more extreme, where bad air may make people sick.

It can be very difficult to pin point the cause of the air quality degradation due to the wide variety of causes and the different immunity and sensitivity levels of people.

Some of the common reasons for air problems are carbon monoxide, mold, and fabrics.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) did a study and found that in 500 cases, the top reasons for IAQ problems were: Inadequate ventilation, an indoor contamination, and outdoor contamination, microbial contamination, and contamination from building fabric.

One of the firsts test to check is Radon. Radon is a colorless, odorless, radioactive gas. Tests for radon are very inexpensive compared to other indoor air quality tests.

Carbon Monoxide monitors. Each home should have a carbon monoxide monitor, they are also inexpensive and will not only test your air, they can save your life, as carbon monoxide can be deadly.

Dosimeters. These can test for volatile organic compounds, specific chemicals and/or materials.

You can purchase monitors or detectors to measure; formaldehyde, nitrogen dioxide, water vapor and other pollutants. The devices can be setup inside your home for a specified period of time, and then sent back to a lab for proper analysis.

This unit is generally priced under $100.

VOC decipol measuring range: 0.1 to 10.0 decipols

Oregon Scientific makes an indoor air quality monitor.  This unit will monitor the Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). VOC’s inlcude:

• cigarette smoke
• paint
• pesticides
• personal car products
• clothing
• household cleaners
• pet dander

Can be set to take readings every 7days, 7 hours, 70 minutes, or every 70 seconds.

The unit allows you to set a certain allowable VOC level, and will sound an alarm if a set level is reached.

Why the big concern now about indoor air quality (IAQ), is the air quality worse now that it was in the past?

IAQ did not used to be a big problem. This is because before the 1970′s, there were almost no energy conservation rules and regulations for buildings and homes. Much of this changed in an effort to conserve heat and cold losses in buildings, and ultimately conserve more energy and cut costs.

Structures began to be built more tightly, with better windows, and improved seals. This resulted in less natural air circulation.

The Sick Building Syndrom (SBS) entered into our culture during that time.