Since the onset of the pandemic, some of the best minds in the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) field have suggested that we craft something like a “Universal Declaration on IAQ” to prepare our civilisation better for the next respiratory outbreak.  A well-intentioned statement by these experts would likely call for sophisticated solutions, capital-intensive improvements and new regulations. This would be a noble effort. In the meantime, I have a proposal that is less lofty: Let’s get back to basics and ensure that time-tested best practices for HVAC are being implemented as part of our normal facility management practices.

Allow me to explain. As an HVAC systems engineer, I have been doing building assessments, energy studies and retro-commissioning for more than 25 years. During my time in the field, I have seen every IAQ foul-up there is – supply and exhaust fans with no belts, plywood covering the air inlet to unit vents, dampers with a 2” x 4” locking the actuator in place, ducts leaking like Swiss cheese and too many dysfunctional systems to count.

Jeremy McDonald

There is no doubt in my mind that our deferred maintenance made the COVID-19 pandemic much worse than it needed to be. And it will make the next pandemic worse if we don’t do something about it. But before we craft new aspirations for providing better air indoors, let’s first try to enforce the policies that are already in place throughout most of the world.

If we can’t even get property managers – not every property manager, but some – to implement the most basic IAQ practices, such as ensuring proper ductwork and minimum airflow, tracking CO2 levels and ensuring fan belts are properly tightened, then what are the chances of more expensive or complicated solutions being successful? In other words, let’s do the easy stuff first, then we can start thinking about the more high-minded approach to a better IAQ future.
With that in mind, here is a modest four-step plan to get back to the basics for better IAQ. Several of these solutions are time-tested as well as reasonably inexpensive. This programme also relies on existing laws and readily available technology.

Step 1: Enforce existing laws
Throughout the developed world, commercial buildings that do not have operable windows are required to provide a minimum ventilation. Many buildings, especially those that have been retrofitted, simply don’t meet the minimum code for ventilation and temperature control. While this may seem egregious, we have too many examples of spaces that don’t abide by the Building Code. These spaces need to be required to meet the law.
Unsuspecting tenants and renters should not be exposed to substandard IAQ. I recommend that landlords be required to bring their buildings up to Code. This would address the worst IAQ issues and give tenants and renters a fighting chance to avoid “super spreader” incidents, which occur when you couple high density with no ventilation.

Step 2: Annual testing
One of the anomalies in the current Building Code is there is no requirement for annual “check-ups” on ventilation systems – except for critical healthcare spaces, such as operating rooms. Any engineer or contractor can attest to the mad rush we experience to ensure buildings “meet Code” before an occupancy certificate is granted. With our current “go-go culture”, HVAC professionals are giving buildings a pass without truly ensuring they have sustainable proper IAQ.
With a requirement for annual testing, similar to our Fire Code requirement, we can at least ensure that a professional is revisiting the basic ventilation requirements on an annual basis. While this won’t totally avoid every problem, it will highlight major issues and ensure that they are addressed.

Step 3: Continuous monitoring
With continuous monitoring of IAQ, we can transparently assure the public that a space is safe to enter. By monitoring key IAQ variables – cfm/sq ft, CO2, VOCs and particulate count – we can ensure that spaces have proper IAQ on a continuous basis. The technology is available and, if reasonably regulated, can be quite affordable.

In future columns, I will discuss best available technologies that can be implemented and provide transparent feedback to occupants on the IAQ state of the space they will enter. History has shown that users make better decisions when they have consistent transparent information. Be it calorie counts, a Zagat survey or a building energy score, users do respond to transparent and easy-to-understand data. I agree with my professional peers who would like to see private agencies, not the government, doing the work of measuring and certification.

Step 4: Capital improvements
It is a simple fact: Some buildings suffer so greatly from deferred maintenance that capital improvements are required. Be it sub-standard air-handling units, exhaust fans without belts or just poor design from the start, some buildings will need capital improvement.
In my view, it is unfair to require buildings to meet some abstract higher standard. Perhaps by enforcing buildings to meet current Code we can address the worst “super spreaders”, because the failing buildings will be clearly apparent.

While this may be expensive for some owners, if a building isn’t meeting the minimum ventilation standards, the owner is, quite frankly, breaking the law.
In a compassionate society, we can construct break-in periods, and grant programmes and other mechanisms to minimise the sting of a major capital investment. Also, if we structure this plan with all the aforementioned steps – especially Step 3, which will require transparent reporting of IAQ – we will enable market forces to dictate owners of recalcitrant buildings to make the correct decision. In my view, Adam Smith’s brilliance of the “invisible hand” of the economy will result in improved IAQ in the most efficient manner, if properly structured and regulated.

The path forward: Let’s Illuminate it
This pandemic has been tough on all of us. Too many of our loved ones have passed, we have witnessed the unintended consequences of social isolation and mental health decline and we are experiencing fissures in our basic social fabric. I am reminded of the so-called malaise of my youth in the 1970s. Clearly, we need to find a better path forward. And I believe that path begins by getting back to the basics.
Improved IAQ will not solely heal what ails our society. However, by rallying around a relatively simple solution that we all implicitly know to be true, we can help turn the angst we see in our social circles and media, and the seemingly unending fissures in our social fabrics, towards the positive energy which always propels us to a higher purpose and a better outcome for all.

We have a lot of work in front of us. However, by embracing the aforementioned programme, we can improve our health and, perhaps, our social institutions along the way, much like we improved our protection against the ravages of fire. Government, you have the prescription and a willing patient in the greater public. It is time for you to lead. Trust me, you will see a willing partner in the people you are charged with leading.

Jeremy McDonald is a principal of Guth DeConzo Consulting Engineers, in New York. Before the pandemic, he was an adjunct professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Recently, he was the technical consultant to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority in development of an IAQ guideline for Higher Education in NY: “Covid-19 Response Guide, State University of New York”. He may be reached at jmcdonald@guthdeconzo.com.