Dubai, UAE: During an online press conference, the Eurovent Association (Brussels) and Eurovent Middle East (Dubai) have officially launched #IAQmatters – a joint initiative of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) manufacturers in Europe and the Middle East, which provides solutions to ensure a healthy indoor climate, according to a press communiqué issued by the organisation. #IAQmatters, the press communiqué said, was developed in close cooperation with experts, such as Prof. Geo Clausen from the Section for Indoor Climate and Building Physics at Denmark Technical University (DTU). Prof. Stefano Cognati, President of REHVA, is one of the campaign’s patrons, it further said.

According to the campaign organisers, #IAQmatters is a long-term initiative, which includes a multitude of measures and recommendations that are going to be launched throughout 2017, 2018 and beyond. The campaign, the communiqué revealed, has been set up in an open-source manner, welcoming contributions from organisations that focus on healthy indoor climate. The campaign, the communiqué said, geographically covers Europe and the Middle East, acknowledging the evolving partnership between the two regions, which are both affected by indoor air pollution.

“Our goal is to move Indoor Air Quality out of the academic sphere into a dynamic, interactive and credible framework that highlights its increasing relevance,” said Alex Rasmussen, President of the Eurovent Association and campaign patron. “Everyone should be able to critically reflect on this subject, being able distinguish suppliers of HVAC equipment and building owners that really care about a healthy indoor climate and offer concrete solutions, from those exploiting IAQ as a marketing tool.”

Matthias Kasprowicz, Vice-President of Eurovent Middle East and campaign patron, added: “Providing a good indoor environment is the main reason why we build buildings. As proven by countless studies, a bad indoor climate can have a negative impact on issues such as your and your children’s health, work productivity, study performance, and human comfort. Looking at Europe and the Middle East, we see a high necessity for providing hands-on information and solutions on Indoor Air Quality. In my daily life in the Middle East with my own children suffering from air pollution, it becomes obvious that something needs to be done. We strongly believe that #IAQmatters and hope that our campaign can contribute to changing attitudes over time.”

The organisation has said that interested organisations can now sign up as a ‘Supporter’ of the #IAQmatters campaign via a dedicated form at www.IAQmatters.org.