While the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) had a negative growth in 2001 of -4.59%, the Chelsea Group INVIRONMENT® Industrial Average (IIA) index leapt ahead by 11.16%! The IIA is comprised of 24 publicly held companies with a significant stake in and impact on indoor air quality (IAQ) because of the products they manufacture.

"This year's performance was even stronger than in 2000 when the IIA had positive growth of 7.06% and the DJIA posted a negative growth of -4.44%," said George Benda, chairman and CEO of the Chelsea Group, Ltd., a Chicago-based consulting firm specializing in indoor air quality.

Each February in INVIRONMENT® Professional, a monthly newsletter that reports on news, trends, technology, issues, and products impacting the indoor environment, Chelsea Group principal Fred Bartl reviews IIA's performance. "The reasons for this stunning growth the past two years as compared with the DJIA has a great deal to do with the continuing expansion of the range of companies with a stake in the indoor environment. Businesses looking to ride the wave of consumer interest in making the quality of air in their homes more comfortable are certainly one factor," said Bartl.

"Increased fears about 'toxic' mold--justified or not--and the attention it has received from the legal, insurance, and news media industries, followed by the post-Sept. 11 anxiety about bioterrorism, are other factors. The search for products to detect and eliminate these problems has resulted in new product development efforts and business partnerships that will both further diversify the participants in the IAQ industry and provide new growth opportunities," he added.