Indoor air quality (IAQ) related illnesses lower productivity and increase absenteeism for employees, and create economic and legal implications for building management and owners. The costs associated with IAQ problems are indisputable but are often extremely broad with the total cost to a particular facility being difficult to quantify. From an energy cost vs. worker productivity prospective, the benefit for providing comfortable work environments is clear. With the estimated energy cost to operate the building of $2 - $8/square foot/year and a worker salary cost of up to $300/square foot/year it is obvious that worker productivity is the dominant economic factor. It is estimated that a 1% increase in productivity in an average office building can justify doubling the maintenance and energy budget.1
Thus, it is important for new buildings to be designed and constructed, and existing buildings be operated and maintained, to provide good IAQ and comfortable work environments for the health and productivity of occupants. As leaders in promoting the �Best Practices� for the IAQ field, and as members and advisors to the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program, the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors� National Association (SMACNA), the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), and the Cal-OSHA Indoor Air Quality Advisory Committee, IEE is excellently positioned to assist clients with their indoor environmental quality (IEQ) project needs.
IEE provides consultation and testing services for IEQ parameters in newly constructed buildings and existing building renovations, and design of IAQ management programs, using the EPA document �Building Air Quality: A Guide for Building Owners and Facility Managers,� tailored specifically to existing facility operations that facility management staff can use to respond to occupant IAQ concerns and maintain good indoor air quality in their buildings.
Included in these sections are some examples of the healthy building services that IEE provides. Please contact us with the details regarding your project so we can provide you with a full list of our services.
