A growing body of scientific knowledge has raised awareness about the increased health risks for employees which lead to potentially significant liabilities, increased absenteeism, and reduced productivity.
New regulations and standards to improve IAQ have prompted greater adoption of IAQ strategies by leading companies, as have green building
certification criteria that require addressing IEQ in order to obtain certification. The emergence of advanced green technologies, no- and low-emission green cleaning products, PVC-free carpet and water-based paints, have enabled leading companies to implement IAQ source-control strategies at a reduced cost with significant returns on investment.
At a recent client-meeting of the Sustainability Roundtable, Inc. (SR Inc.), Georgia Tech’s Dr. Charlene Bayer, who leads the ‘Health in Buildings Roundtable’, and SR Inc.’s Michael Gresty presented findings of their latest research on, “Managing Indoor Quality” which identified the link between IAQ and worker productivity. The highlights of the published research found:
• Leading corporate users pursue IAQ management as part of their portfolio-wide sustainability strategy to reduce employee absenteeism and health care costs, improve productivity, reduce liability and regulatory risk, and improve brand and reputation.
• Commercial real estate owners address IAQ management to improve competitiveness and ability to attract and retain tenants, increase property values, and reduce liability and regulatory risk.
• Cost-benefit analysis has demonstrated the significant paybacks from improvements in building design, operation, and maintenance that address IAQ. Such improvements “may often exceed the costs by a factor of ten or more because worker salaries and benefits greatly exceed the costs to provide and operate buildings.”
