Air quality inside the office

Given the many hours that were spent daily in the offices before the Covid-19 pandemic, studies on how healthy it is to spend up to more than 8 hours inside a closed space with air conditioning have become one of the health priorities when returning to the offices.

Ensuring good air quality inside the office is key to ensuring the health of the work team. And now you are probably wondering, how much pollution can the air have?.

Some of the main pollutants of this natural element are:

- Allergens such as pollen.

- Carbon monoxide CO and nitrogen dioxide NO2.

- Moisture (mold, bacteria)

- Chemical substances such as paint and cleaning products.

These bad agents that damage the common well-being usually appear in places that spend a lot of time isolated, without sources of natural ventilation, without windows for the sun to enter and where the air conditioners are always on.

Some of the disadvantages and discomforts that poor indoor air quality can bring to company talents are:

- General discomfort.

- Skin allergies such as redness or itching.

- Dry eyes, tearing.

- Breathing problems such as congestion and constant sore throat.

In addition to all this, the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed a phenomenon that happens in these closed places and which it called: Sick Building Syndrome (SBS). This is exclusive for non-industrial interior spaces, and where the main problem is that in at least 20% of the occupants, a set of symptoms such as dryness and irritation of the mucous membranes, headache, mental fatigue and nonspecific hypersensitivities become the day-to-day of the occupants of these spaces and without their causes being clear.

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mproving air quality inside offices does not depend on a large economic investment, one of the simplest solutions is natural ventilation, opening the windows for a couple of minutes so that all the stale air comes out at least once a day.

But to take even more care of the health of employees some more equipment is needed:

Mechanical ventilation: An air extraction system to renew it and guarantee indoor air quality. Heat recovery units also help to recover part of the energy from the extracted air.

Air conditioning with filters: To control the temperature and purify the indoor air, having air conditioning equipment with air filters will be needed.

Healthy materials: Using wood, ceramic and textile materials, with low or zero content of harmful substances, will always be a simple and effective solution.

To know and monitor the air quality in the company, Gaia by Actiu is a new system that allows not only to measure air quality (carbon dioxide -CO2- and PM 2.5 and PM 10), but also captures information in real-time on temperature, humidity, lighting, noise and human presence, among other parameters. A true solution to the need of protecting the physical and mental well-being of the talents at work.