September 24, 2020

Indoor Air Quality + Performance

Indoor Air Quality - Performance Talking Points

Reducing concentration of indoor air pollutants has been shown to increase human performance and productivity.

Keywords

Indoor air quality, performance, absenteeism, cognitive function, ventilation

Performance in Offices

• Recent research suggests that indicators like CO2 have an influence on human performance at thresholds lower (600ppm) than those that were developed as acceptable standards (1000ppm) based on human comfort and that CO2 may not be just an indicator but a direct pollutant (Allen 2016)
• Increasing outdoor ventilation rates between 14 to 30 cfm/person, lowering CO2 concentrations below 600ppm, and lowering total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs) concentrations improve indoor air quality and significantly improve cognitive function, decision making ability, and productivity (Allen 2016, Satish 2012).

Performance in Schools

• Cognitive function can be impacted by CO2 concentrations above 600ppm. A large percentage of schools in the United States have many spaces that exceed 1,000ppm, the ASHRAE standard (Fisk 2017, Allen 2016, Satish 2013, Corsi et al. 2002, Shendell et al. 2004).
• Students perform better academically and yield less health related absences in classrooms with a minimum outdoor ventilation rate of 7 L s-1 which is associated with a lower concentration of CO¬2 (Fisk 2017, Shendell et. Al. 2004).

Reduced Absenteeism

• Adequate ventilation and the absence of volatile organic compounds leads to happier, healthier workers and can increase performance by 8% and reduce absenteeism (Miller 2009, Macnaughton 2015).

Key References

Review Articles

• Fisk, William J. “The ventilation problem in schools: literature review.” Indoor Air 27, no. 6 (2017): 1039-1051.
• Miller, Norm, Dave Pogue, Quiana Gough, and Susan Davis. “Green buildings and productivity.” Journal of Sustainable Real Estate 1, no. 1 (2009): 65-89.

Primary Research

• Allen, Joseph G., Piers MacNaughton, Usha Satish, Suresh Santanam, Jose Vallarino, and John D. Spengler. “Associations of cognitive function scores with carbon dioxide, ventilation, and volatile organic compound exposures in office workers: a controlled exposure study of green and conventional office environments.” Environmental health perspectives 124, no. 6 (2016): 805-812.
• Corsi, R. L., V. M. Torres, M. Sanders, and K. A. Kinney. “Carbon dioxide levels and dynamics in elementary schools: results of the TESIAS Study.” Indoor Air 2 (2002): 74-79.
• MacNaughton, Piers, James Pegues, Usha Satish, Suresh Santanam, John Spengler, and Joseph Allen. “Economic, environmental and health implications of enhanced ventilation in office buildings.” International journal of environmental research and public health 12, no. 11 (2015): 14709-14722.
• Satish, Usha, Mark J. Mendell, Krishnamurthy Shekhar, Toshifumi Hotchi, Douglas Sullivan, Siegfried Streufert, and William J. Fisk. “Is CO2 an indoor pollutant? Direct effects of low-to-moderate CO2 concentrations on human decision-making performance.” Environmental health perspectives 120, no. 12 (2012): 1671-1677.
• Shendell, Derek G., William J. Fisk, Michael G. Apte, and David Faulkner. “Associations between classroom CO2 concentrations and student attendance in Washington and Idaho.” (2012).