LEED Indoor Environmental Quality

How much time do you spend inside?  Sometimes I feel like all my days are spent inside.  Indoor pollutants are a major issue given these circumstances.  By specifying appropriate materials, monitoring indoor air contaminants such as carbon dioxide, thermal comfort and control, air exchange with the outside, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Beyond these specifications and monitoring is controlling the occupants use of the space and operations and maintenance activities.  Keeping smoking outside of the building and away from the air intake points, changing air filters, using green cleaning products, and using an integrated pest management program are all necessary to keep the air quality high in the building.

I have done several LEED Indoor Environmental Quality evaluations and they are strait forward, provide a baseline for the air quality in the building after construction/major renovation, and act as a check that the design teams request to use low VOCs emitting materials was followed.  However, perhaps the best thing about the evaluation is it proved to the occupants that the air in the building is "good" and they have peace-of-mind.

So next time your inside think about what you are breathing and what you can do to make it better.