Does your room or office feel stuffy? Do you feel tired or end up being dizzy during the work day? Do you frequently get headaches at your work location?
These symptoms have a variety of causes (ergonomics, lighting or noise) however could show an indoor air quality issue due to inadequate ventilation.
In an office building, a minimum supply of 10 litres per second of outside air per person is recommended by ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Cooling Engineers) but determining airflow is made complex.
Insufficient ventilation can lead to the accumulation of small amounts of contaminants which are hard to determine and test, so co2 (CO2) levels are made use of as an indicator of sufficient ventilation in a space. Carbon dioxide is released by combustion of fuels and every time we breathe. It is typically determined at 300-350 ppm (parts per million) in the atmosphere. The legal exposure limit is a TWAEV (time weighted average exposure value) of 5000 ppm which will unlikely be reached outside of heavy market (Regulation 833 Control of Exposure to Biological or Chemical Agents). Levels of 600-800 ppm are normal in office environments. Standards recommend CO2 levels do not go beyond 1000 ppm (700 ppm above outside levels), the ASHRAE action level. Some individuals are sensitive to CO2 levels as low as 600 ppm so action might even be called for at lower levels

EnviroProz provides professional indoor testing services. HERE

 

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