You and your team spend a solid eight hours per day, five days per week in your office building. Poor indoor air quality could contribute to increased rates of illness, worse allergy and asthma symptoms, and excessive wear and tear on sensitive equipment. Use these tips to determine if your office suffers from poor indoor air quality and learn what you can do to solve this common problem in McMurray, PA.
Increased Rates of Absenteeism
Bad air quality may result in more employee illnesses and absences. One type of indoor air pollutant is biological. These pollutants include bacteria and viruses, which infect the lungs and can cause upper and lower respiratory illnesses. When there are a lot of particles or volatile organic compounds circulating in the air of your office, they may trigger or worsen asthma and allergy symptoms. If your employees are calling off sick with colds, sinus infections, influenza, and similar illnesses, it’s probably time to improve the air quality in your office.
Visible Condensation and Particles
If you can see moisture condensing on glass or metal surfaces, your building likely has an indoor air quality problem. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, humidity is a leading source of poor air quality. Excessive humidity can facilitate organic growth. It also makes office occupants feel uncomfortable. High humidity may damage or ruin sensitive electronic equipment, including servers, routers, and printers. An ideal indoor humidity level is 30% to 50%.
Inadequate or Improper Ventilation
Notice whether odors linger in your office. For example, when employees use the break room to heat their lunches, do the odors linger for hours? If so, your building likely doesn’t have enough ventilation. Inadequate ventilation or ventilation that takes in air from outdoor areas with automotive exhaust can contribute to poor indoor air quality in office buildings.
For more information about indoor air quality in office settings, take a look at Bruno Plumbing & Heating’s commercial HVAC services, or contact us today.
