Commercial services are helpful to improve your office indoor air quality, but how do you know if your indoor air quality needs improvement? Even without a foul smell, the indoor air quality of your office might not be as clean as you think.
Your Indoor Air Could Be Worse than Outdoor Air
When most people think of air pollution, they think of air they can see, smell or feel. But it turns out that indoor air can smell, look and feel just fine, but be very polluted. For example, indoor air often contains chemicals that are harmful to humans. These chemicals can come from a variety of sources, such as new furniture and paint. Other sources of chemicals in the air, such as volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, include adhesives, cleaning solutions, solvents and personal care products.
VOCs can cause headaches and nausea. Even when no one can detect it with their nose, long-term exposure to VOCs can still potentially cause more serious illnesses, such as cancer and allergic reactions.
More Energy Efficient Offices Could Have Worse Indoor Air
It sounds backward, but newer and more energy efficient buildings often have indoor air that’s more polluted than older buildings. The reason for this is because they are better insulated which means they are usually more airtight. This results in fewer opportunities for polluted indoor air to circulate to the outside. It also means more stagnant indoor air which can facilitate mold and bacterial growth indoors, further decreasing the quality of the indoor air.
Opening Windows Can Sometimes Reduce Indoor Air Quality
If your employees or coworkers have concerns about outdoor allergies, opening the windows during allergy season is a sure way to drastically reduce the quality of your office’s indoor air. If you must open the windows, be sure to have the air handler running and supplement the air filters with standalone air filtration units.
For finding more potential problems with your commercial property’s indoor air quality, you can schedule an appointment online or by talking to a Smoak’s Comfort Control team member at 843-556-9550.