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Sick
Building Syndrome | OH&S
Implications | Cost
Implications
Almost seventy percent of the US work force
- approximately 89 million persons - work in
non-industrial, non-agricultural, indoor work
settings, referred to as indoor environments.
In the last 20 years diseases and health complaints
related to these indoor environments have received
increasing attention.
Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is recognised by the
World Health Organisation as a major contributor
to ‘Sick Building Syndrome’. IAQ is of growing
concern to health authorities.
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Sick Building Syndrome (SBS)
The World Health Organisation defines SBS as
“an excess of work-related irritations on the
skin and mucous membranes and other symptoms
including headache, fatigue and difficulty concentrating
reported by workers in modern buildings.”
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OH&S Implications
The Occupational Safety & Health Act of
1970 provides for the general welfare and safe
and healthy working conditions so far as possible
for every working man and woman in the nation
by “encouraging employers and employees in their
efforts to reduce the number of occupational
safety and health hazards at their places of
employment, and to stimulate employers and employees
to institute new and to perfect existing programs
for providing safe and healthful working conditions.”
AerisGuard™ is an investment in enhanced IAQ
and HVAC hygiene.
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Cost Implications
Energy Inefficiency
Contamination of air handling components results
in a significant loss in plant operating efficiency.
Fouled coils inhibit effective heat transfer.
Occluded coils and filters result in excessive
pressure drop through the system. The combined
effect is a material increase in the energy
costs of running the plant.
Maintenance Costs
Heating and cooling coils generally degrade
due to corrosion. A significant cause of this
corrosion is that the organisms that colonise
the coil fins produce an acid as a by-product
of their metabolism.
In 1999, the EPA completed an extensive modeling
study to assess the compatibilities and trade-offs
between energy, indoor air quality, thermal
comfort objectives for HVAC systems and to formulate
strategies to simultaneously achieve superior
performance on each objective. The results of
this study can be found on the EPA site: http://www.epa.gov/iaq/largebldgs/eiaq_page.htm.
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