Maintaining Consistent Indoor Air Quality for Your NYC Corporate Office Space

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light the importance of maintaining optimal indoor air quality (IAQ). Indoor air quality affects not only the performance of your HVAC equipment, but also the health and comfort of your building’s occupants—both of these elements contribute to the overall productivity and success of your business.

Below are tips on regulating indoor air quality to achieve a consistent and optimal flow of air in your corporate office space.

What Is Indoor Air Quality, and Why Does It Matter?

Your employees are the foundation of your company—without them, success is futile. As such, the health of employees should be a major concern for employers, one that is directly impacted by the indoor air quality of any office space. The average person inhales about 2,000 gallons of air each day—nearly 700 gallons in an 8-hour workday—so maintaining a healthy environment is crucial to the well-being and safety of a building’s occupants. Compared to the open outside environment, the likelihood of airborne contaminants and pollutants increases in confined indoor areas, such as office spaces. To reduce the risk of illness caused by breathing in these harmful allergens, having a firm handle on IAQ is imperative.

How to Control and Monitor IAQ

Regardless of the use of your space, it is both possible and necessary to exercise constant control over IAQ through regular monitoring and improvement plans. To improve IAQ in your corporate office space, it is important to work with an IAQ expert who can recommend the most effective solution for your space.

Reduce Humidity and Moisture

It is important to control moisture and relative humidity in occupied spaces. Indoor environments of high humidity and moisture are the perfect breeding grounds for bacteria, mold, and other contaminants. On the other hand, significantly low levels of humidity and moisture can cause problems such as dry eyes and skin. ASHRAE recommends that relative humidity be maintained below 60 percent and should be greater than 30 percent. To encourage more balanced levels (and improve IAQ as a result), install dehumidifiers throughout your corporate office space.

Implement an Effective Ventilation System

Your commercial HVAC system is sensitive to the occupancy levels of your corporate office building, as well as the amount of equipment being housed within the building. As such, it’s important to design and implement a ventilation system suited to your building’s specific needs. With regular maintenance, your commercial HVAC system’s air filters can drastically improve IAQ by cleaning and regulating air flow and mitigating the transmission of airborne pollutants throughout your office space.

Conduct Frequent IAQ Testing

As with any IAQ improvement plan, close monitoring is essential to maintaining consistent and optimal conditions in your corporate office space. A licensed CIEC professional will be able to evaluate the IAQ of your space and identify any concerns. In addition to frequent testing, active monitoring of emissions—such as CO2, for example—will give you even further control over IAQ,

Indoor Air Quality Solutions by Donnelly Mechanical

Donnelly Mechanical offers a wide range of indoor air quality solutions for large commercial spaces, including corporate offices. As a premiere provider of IAQ solutions, we offer the support, tools, and expertise you need to keep your air clean and breathable year-round. Contact us today for more information on our IAQ improvement solutions, including comprehensive commercial HVAC modification, HVAC system analysis, and HVAC maintenance.