Breeam guidance notes specify the individual requirement of an indoor air quality plan for specific types of developments. There are many specific points which need to be addressed in an air quality plan but in this article I will focus only on the requirement specifying the need for the dilution and control of contamination source.
To effectively control the contaminants the construction companies should firstly minimise the impact of construction materials onto indoor air quality. All Construction products should meet the requirements for emission levels for Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emissions and formaldehyde against the relevant standards identified within table 7 of Hea 02. In this case where a sports facility was being constructed particular attention had to be placed on large scale floor materials used in sports hall and training rooms. These material are often constructed from a variety of polymers and are therefore likely to off-gass many chemical compounds.
It is equally important that all the decorative paints and varnishes have met the requirements listed in Table – 7 of Hea 02 as these will be the primary pollutant sources in the newly constructed building. In a sport facility in particular varnishes are applied on very large scale thus having significant impact on the over air quality.
Air re-circulation offers the perk of saving energy however, relying on 100% air re-circulation can undermine the indoor air quality that is healthy for both humans and buildings. Constant recirculation should only be used when the building is unoccupied. If recirculation is used during occupied periods, measures should be put in place to ensure that outdoor air is supplied for at least part of every hour. Ventilation rates should be increased after periods of heavy occupation, intensive use or after activities likely to release odours.
The development considered in this air quality plan was a two storey sports and educational building consisting of offices, changing rooms, classrooms, rest area, store rooms and a sports hall on the ground floor. On the first floor it consisted of a gymnasium, exercise rooms, sports science rooms, and several classrooms. The offices and classrooms in building had modern synthetic fibre carpets to floors, plasterboard partition walls and modern fibreboard suspended ceilings. I have concluded that 14 samples will be necessary to evaluate the indoor air quality in this facility. My client has received a Breeam point for creation of this air quality plan.
By Tomas Gabor
