Indoor Air Quality
“Indoor air quality” refers to how clean the air in a building is.
As buildings become more airtight and energy efficient, actively managing indoor air quality becomes more important. Some air pollutants, like carbon monoxide, are highly dangerous. Others, like volatile organic compounds, can cause short-term health problems as well as chronic ones.
Moisture management, adequate ventilation, and selection of low-VOC products are some of the best ways to ensure good IAQ.
Indoor Air Quality
Deep Dives
Get up to speed on complex topics. You can also earn CEUs and download PDF Spotlight Reports.
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The Questionable Science Behind VOC Emissions Testing
Feature Short
We need the protection that product VOC testing provides, but it’s far from the last word on human health in buildings.
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VOCs in LEED and Other Rating Systems
Feature Short
Most building certifications encourage low-emitting and low-VOC products, but they all do it differently. Here’s how it all fits together.
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How to Get from VOC Certifications to Better Products
Feature Short
The FDA regulates flies in our soup, but no one regulates VOCs in our indoor air. Somehow that’s a designer’s job to figure out.
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Why “Zero VOC” Was Never Enough
Feature Short
We used to look for coatings, adhesives, and sealants that contained no VOCs. Great for smog prevention, but IAQ and installer health are also important.
Quick Takes
Jump straight to the essentials with these short explanations of green building concepts.
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Product Guidance
Unbiased information from our product experts helps you separate green from greenwash.
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Recovering Heat from Commercial Kitchen Exhaust
Product Review
The Halton Heat Recovery Unit captures heat in commercial kitchen exhaust to pre-heat incoming make-up air, reducing the HVAC demands on the kitchen. Optional domestic water heating loops and air-cooling coils are also available.
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Convia's Energy-Management Platform
Product Review
Convia and Wiremold have partnered to provide a modular, highly adjustable energy distribution infrastructure and reporting tool.
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Matrix Total Home System Offers All-in-One Efficiency
Product Review
The Matrix Total Home System from NTI is an energy-efficient mechanical system that includes forced-air and hydronic heating as well as energy recovery and ventilation in one space-efficient unit.
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NightBreeze Automates Ventilation Cooling
Product Review
NightBreeze uses off-peak power to provide ventilation cooling integrated with a home's mechanical system.
In The News
We break news down to the essentials and provide expert analysis.
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Air Filtration in Schools May Improve Test Scores
News Brief
Students with cleaner indoor air significantly out-performed their peers in a recent study.
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Smog Outdoors Saps Worker Productivity Indoors
News Brief
75% of small particulates in outdoor air pollution come indoors and cause workers to be less productive, putting a $2 billion dent in China’s service sector.
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Air in Fitness Centers Laden with Pollutants, Study Finds
News Analysis
Lack of ventilation and elevated levels of VOCs are common problems in gyms, according to European research, and pools have issues too.
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Tuning Today’s Building Designs to Tomorrow’s Climate
News Analysis
A new modeling tool, WeatherShift, helps designers see how designs today can account for comfort, resilience, and energy needs decades down the line.
Learning Resources
Syllabus supplements and CEU content, with automatic reporting for AIA and GBCI.
- Check if your spelling is correct, or try removing filters.
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- You can require or exclude terms using + and -: big +blue drop will require a match on blue while big blue -drop will exclude results that contain drop.
