It is stay at home time. With all the lockdowns, shutdowns, curfews, stay at homes, one is finally getting to spend more time at home. Time where one doesnt really hit the bed but gets to feel the house, the place one buys or rents spending a lot of money, mortgage and heartaching searches. The easiest way to have a pleasant physical time at home is to ensure that the Indoor Air Quality is ambient.
Indoor Air Quality or lack of it can really play havoc with a person's schedule. Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) is the cause for a lot of issues that while by themselves dont look like much, but can affect productivity in a major way. SBS causes headaches, dizziness, fatigue, nausea. The major causes of sick building syndrome are lack of ventilation, high CO2, ozone levels, presence of allergens, harmful microbes in the air, unhygienic conditions indoor, etc. The best way to improve personal health and productivity is to improve the ventilation / indoor air quality of the place where onespends the majority of a workday.
What are the ways one can go about improving the Indoor Air Quality?
Letting in the outdoor air from time to time is the easiest and the cheapest way to improve ventilation in a house. Sometimes the air conditioner would just be recycling and cooling or heating the same polluted air. Open a bit of window, ensure cross ventilation multiple times a day. That is by far the cheapest way to ensure a better air quality.
Indoor Plants. Indoor plants are a great way to improve the indoor air quality. Two to three medium sized plant per son in a home ensures that your carbon dioxide gets sapped up to some extent. They act as natural air purifiers and dehumidifiers. One can also use dehumidifiers in damp climates that are easily available.
Maintain household hygiene to ensure a better indoor air quality. Disinfecting the house regularly, keeping outside, cleaning shoes, outer garments, mopping, sweeping and dusting the home at regular intervals using natural disinfectants, vacuum cleaners, etc ensures that the microbes dont get to settle down and multiply. Bacteria and virus like a congested, humid space to grow. Ensuring personal and home hygeine ensures the chance of a better home quality.
Invisible pollutants are a major cause of sick building syndrome and poor air quality. These invisible pollutants come in our household paints on furniture and walls, glue used in furniture, the household cleaners, air fresheners, dyes, etc. These are all products with high VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds). Try to use products with low VOCs, that are more natural or have been approved as green.
Air filters used in ours ACs and AHUs are another source of pollution. They need to be kept clean. The fresh intake air source in AHUs should not be near any contaminating source.
The easiest way to ensure that you get the fresh air you need is to install a IAQ measure in your house, especially if you need to use artificial ventilation more. This ensures that the IAQ stays at an acceptable level; else measures are taken. The difference between indoor and outdoor ppm* of CO2 levels should not be more than 600 to have an ambient atmosphere at home. More than that is a cause for worry.
* particles per million
Article by
Ar. Sanghamitra Rath
#stayathome, #airquality, #co2levels, #greenbuilding
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