Solutions to improve air quality in buildings

Air pollution or poor air quality poses a significant risk to health and the environment. Good air quality is essential to ensure healthy spaces and prevent respiratory diseases. For some time now, and more recently, the concept of air quality has become highly relevant and has positioned itself as one of the key elements we must pay attention to for the care of our health. Both outdoor air quality and indoor air quality in buildings must be taken into account. In fact, we spend more than 90% of our lives indoors, according to WHO estimates. For this reason, it is vital that the air we breathe in these places is suitable for health. Various experts, such as Carlos A. Jiménez-Ruiz, president of the Spanish Society of Pulmonology and Thoracic Surgery, state that ensuring air quality in indoor spaces will be vital for the respiratory health of citizens. But how can we improve indoor air quality and avoid the negative consequences of poor environmental quality? Given the usual concentration of people in tertiary sector buildings, such as offices, hospitals, shopping centers, etc., it is necessary to ensure good air quality through different ventilation or filtration strategies. The first step is to generate data related to air quality. For this, different IoT devices are used to measure parameters such as temperature, humidity, CO₂ level, TVOC, PM2.5 and PM10 particles, which are integrated into the building’s BMS system. With their integration, data can be viewed and analyzed 24/7 in real time, so that dynamic strategies can be established to achieve appropriate air quality values. These strategies take into account the rest of the information generated by the building’s BMS, such as energy consumption, demand zones, temperatures, and outdoor air quality, to achieve overall building efficiency. Additionally, alarms are generated in the event of any incidents in the planned operations, to alert those responsible for building management. With this Big Data, global management and maintenance strategies are carried out that ensure the early correction of incidents, achieving not only optimal air quality but also adequate comfort. From our WhyB® area, we help and advise our clients on numerous projects by automatically and continuously checking the environmental quality levels (temperature, humidity, CO₂ levels, etc.) in each room of the building, so that they comply with the recommended air quality regulations and never exceed the indicated levels, ensuring comfort and well-being in all occupied spaces. The COVID-19 pandemic we have experienced has made us reflect on the importance of the air we breathe, both outdoors and indoors, whose quality greatly influences people’s health. At this point, having an expert who guarantees maximum quality and optimal conditions in any type of space through efficient solutions is essential for a sustainable future.