Ensuring Quality of Life with the right measuring instruments

Indoor air quality

Indoor air quality has become problematic primarily due to the growing importance of oil in recent decades. As the price of oil rose, energy efficiency stood out, leading to the spread of better insulation systems in buildings. However, in many cases we practically sealed the interior, removed the ventilation and added an amazing amount of chemicals to our apartment.

The WESSLING analysis report is a good guide for the measures to be taken to improve indoor air quality, which leads to increased comfort and health.

Poor air quality is a major health risk, causing lung disease, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Children, the elderly and people suffering from asthma and respiratory diseases are the most affected. In addition to the negative effects on health, air pollution has a considerable economic impact: increasing medical costs and reducing productivity through lost working days. Air pollution also affects the environment, affecting the quality of freshwater, soil and ecosystems.

Legislation

Indoor air quality refers to offices, living spaces, malls and other closed public or private spaces where for such locations we do not have legislation in the field. International guidelines and rules apply, especially American ones. For indoor air quality in workspaces, GD 1218 updated on January 27, 2015 applies, specifying the allowed values for the measured parameters.

What parameters do we measure?

The cocktail of chemicals and pollutants that we find inside buildings comes from part of the external environment (NOx, SO₂, O₂, CO and dust fractions (PM10, PM2.5) of different sizes), but also formaldehyde released mainly by furniture and volatile organic compounds (substances that contain carbon and have the ability to evaporate at room temperature) and residual heat, moisture and carbon dioxide as by-products of the respiration process. For indoor air safety, WESSLING Romania recommends monitoring the following important environmental parameters: ventilation in buildings, combustion products, volatile organic compounds, formaldehyde and ozone. 
The efficiency of ventilation in buildings has a major role in ensuring the comfort of office spaces, schools, institutions. In order to examine the proper functioning of the ventilation system, temperature, relative humidity and carbon dioxide must be measured.

Temperature - must be maintained between 23ºC and 28ºC in summer and between 20ºC and 25.5ºC in winter, reference from ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Cooling and Air Conditioning Engineers) Standard 55-2010 ISO 7730, to ensure comfort occupants of the building. Temperature fluctuations in occupied spaces are common, even in a building with an adequate supply of fresh air. It is difficult controlling the temperature and maintain comfort without a functional ventilation system.

Relative humidity - must be between 30 and 65% (ASHRAE 55-2010, ISO 7730). A feeling of dryness and irritation is common in an environment with low relative humidity. Low relative humidity is a very common problem during the summer.

Carbon dioxide - is an odorless and colorless gas. Measuring this parameter shows how fresh the air in the room is. CO₂ is found naturally in the environment and occurs in the breathing process of living things. Another source of carbon dioxide is the burning of fossil fuels. 
The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is about 250-600 ppm. The smaller the CO₂, the fresher the air. If we have a CO₂ concentration of 1000 ppm it means that the air in the room is quite clogged and requires adequate ventilation. To determine the value of these important parameters, WESSLING Romania tests air samples with high sensitivity instruments. We use Testo 435, and the multifunctional instruments Testo 440 and Testo 480, specific equipment for this set of measurements.