Our Insights | Blog | Indoor Environmental Quality
Kevin Coghlan | April 27, 2020
We are fast approaching a point (if we are not there already) where our collective focus will shift from supporting a work-at-home strategy to planning for employees to return to the workplace. There will be a great number of issues to address prior to that happening. From a facility management perspective, one immediate question is...
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Matt Fragala | November 4, 2019
On average, Americans spend 90 percent of their time indoors — and the quality of their indoor environment can have significant effects on their health and well-being. Since indoor concentrations of some pollutants can be as much as five times higher than outdoor concentrations, indoor environmental quality (IEQ) should be a top concern for everyone....
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Andy Machado | October 3, 2019
Boston and Cambridge are following the path laid by New York City’s landmark Local Law 84. In recent years, both Massachusetts cities passed legislation to require mandatory energy and water reporting for large buildings within their jurisdictions. You may think you know the details…but you might not have considered all the consequences. Boston’s Building Energy...
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Kathleen Brown | August 19, 2019
Design engineers and building owners should take notice: small features intended to prevent headaches down the line could be increasing their risk of waterborne infections. Many building systems are designed to allow for future expansion, which can lead to “dead legs” in domestic plumbing and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. This extra piping...
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Will Wade | July 15, 2019
Building flush-out or IAQ testing? This is the question many project teams ask when trying to determine how to successfully achieve the LEED IAQ credit under Version 4. In this post we’ll take a look at the key requirements and the pros and cons of these two options. LEED v.4 IAQ Assessment Overview Leadership...
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Will Wade | May 21, 2019
Products such as thermometers, thermostats, fluorescent light bulbs, and some electrical switches have long been known as potential sources of mercury. In recent years another mercury-containing product – polyurethane flooring – has garnered public attention and concern. Some polyurethane or rubber-like floorings manufactured from 1960 to 1980 contained mercuric acetate. These floors are most often...
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Bryan Connors | May 8, 2019
The problem of Legionella bacteria growth in complex water systems has been known for decades, but recent changes to regulatory requirements have created a compliance issue for many healthcare facilities. If your hospital doesn’t currently have an effective water management program, it’s time to make creating one a priority. Since the Centers for Medicare and...
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Will Wade | March 22, 2019
Water use is an integral component of every construction project, and the focus should be on how to prevent it from impacting porous and finished building materials and affecting systems performance. There are three key phases common to all construction projects during which moisture and mold issues are most likely to occur: Transport and storage...
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Matt Fragala | June 28, 2018
Putting a real-time air quality monitoring plan in place prior to a complicated demolition or interior renovation project can give universities an additional layer of assurance that they’re protecting sensitive populations in the area. Too often plans to control dust emission on demolition or renovation projects get overlooked. Once demolition has begun—and complaints of dust...
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