Building Management for Occupant Health Needs to Move Beyond Comfort
While the appeal of profits and fear of lawyers are powerful emotions, doing the right thing to protect human health in all occupied buildings must take precedence.
Returning home an inspiring conference, "Indoor Environmental Quality Performance Approaches," in Athens, Greece, I’m struck by several serious challenges in establishing best-practice recommendations, standards, and building codes that include occupant health outcomes. We know, without a doubt, that airborne exposures affect our health, but, until recently, the primary focus has been on decreasing outdoor air pollutants. The recognition by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that transmission via indoor air is the most prominent way to spread COVID-19 was a pivotal moment. We are now tasked with managing IAQ to protect occupant health in all buildings, not just hospitals. Hence, the focus of this international conference was how to move from IAQ to IEQ to expand the role of occupant health outcomes in management of the indoor environment.
What is ASHRAE’s starting point for assessing the occupant in non-acute care hospital settings? Occupant experiences are currently addressed under the heading of “comfort,” which means 80% of occupants must be satisfied with their subjective indoor experience. Herein begins a problem. Occupant gender, age, clothing, and activity levels are all important variables that are not captured under the definition of comfort.