Engineered Systems - November 2008 - (Page 40)

The IAQ TOP 1O ventilation systems are designed to remove particles and not gases. Since ozone is such a reactive molecule, some removal can occur in filters designed to remove particles, and work is being done to develop filters with a greater removal efficiency for ozone without producing irritating and unhealthy reaction products. Also, I do not recommend electrostatic air filters as these can produce ozone and the particle removal efficiency can decline significantly with time; I feel similarly about UV irradiation systems, as these systems can produce ozone, and I would suggest they do not provide any significant disinfection of the air and can damage UV sensitive materials. investigate the complaint. It is also important to dispatch facilities personnel who know something about responding to IAQ complaints and the building and ventilation systems and to do so in a timely fashion. Building engineers that are Building Operator Certified (BOC) have special training to do this type of occupant complaint response work and can often solve the problem without the need for hiring an indoor air quality consultant (www.theboc.info). ES 10 OCCUPANT COMPLAINT/RESPONSE SYSTEM Last but not least, the lack of a formal system for occupants to register their complaints and concerns with those who control the operation of the building results in either a zero or slow response to mitigate the problem or concerns. This frustrates occupants and makes them angry. Since we do not have Star Trek tricorders that can measure all the air contaminants in a building (and even if we did, we don’t have the exposure criteria to interpret the data), we must rely on feedback from the occupants regarding the acceptability of the indoor air, and this means facilitating this feedback by having an organized complaint and response plan. With such a plan, occupants register their complaints/concerns with the facilities management point of contact, the information is logged into a database, and a facilities personnel is dispatched to Offermann is president of Indoor Environmental Engineering, an IAQ research and forensic firm located in San Francisco (www.iee-sf.com). REFERENCES Mendell, M.J., T. Brennan, L. Hathon, J.D. Odom, F.J. Offermann, B.H. Turk, K.M. Wallingford, R.C. Diamond, and W.J. Fisk, “Causes and prevention of symptom complaints in office buildings: Distilling the experience of indoor environmental quality investigators”, Facilities, Vol. 24, No. 11/12, 2006. Minimize building energy costs We all want to make our existing buildings a greener place. Only TSI offer the precise tools to fine tune your HVAC systems to peak performance. Green buildings can reduce building operating costs —and the resulting energy savings can be significant. Another benefit is reducing the risk for indoor environmental quality problems. TSI: making the world greener—one building at a time. We offer the tools to help you meet your green goals. 9555 VelociCalc Multi-Function Ventilation Meter To learn more, visit www.tsi.com/GREEN. ® For a free HVAC Assessment Handbook, send your contact information to answers@tsi.com. Please put HVAC Handbook in the subject line. Input 116 at www.esmagazine.com/instantproductinfo ESM11084TSI.indd 1 ed S y stem s 40 En gi neer November 2008 10/15/08 2:12:21 PM http://www.theboc.info http://www.iee-sf.com http://www.tsi.com/ http://www.tsi.com/ http://www.esmagazine.com/instantproductinfo

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Engineered Systems - November 2008

Engineered Systems - November 2008 Contents Editor’s Note HVAC Challenge Back2Basics Case In Point Commissioning Building Automation HVACR Designer Tips Show Me The Motor Money The IAQ Top 10 Putting A Damper on Tragedy Special: Lighting Controls Computers & Software Products Glossary Classifieds Advertiser Index Tomorrow’s Environment

Engineered Systems - November 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.