Each year brings new challenges in keeping the indoor environment clean. First it was asbestos in the 1970s to be removed during the 1980s. Then the oil embargo produced IAQ problems throughout the 1980s that we tried to correct throughout the 1990s. Now it's mold-related problems that we will be working to correct throughout the foreseeable future. You would think facility managers would get a break every now and then. However, the indoor environment is such a moving target that defining what IAQ is seems to be as illusive as defining what the word "is" is.
In January we attended an ASHRAE Forum [at the ASHRAE Winter Meeting] in Atlantic City where the discussion centered on "High Performance Buildings," with the goal of defining and quantifying such a facility. After considerable discussion, it was evident that so many opinions exist on how and who should define this type of building that it would be easier to solve the "chicken or egg dilemma."