Air Quality in the Classroom, Office or Commercial Building

Did you know that in most indoor environments, be they offices, schools, health care or aged care, that the majority of fresh air is bought in & distributed by the air conditioning systems?

As it currently stands, the Building Code of Australia (BCA) mandates a minimum of 10% fresh air to be brought in through each AC unit.

This can be done through various means and via different types of systems such as rooftop package units, in-ceiling ducted units, hi-wall units & cassette units.

However, fresh air supplies to hi-wall units and cassettes are often neglected due to the additional expense and difficulties of achieving this in practice.

This 10% is the minimum based on considerations such as size of the space being conditioned, the amount of people based on the size and purpose of that specific area or office.

Unfortunately these considerations do not take into account several factors that will affect the 10% fresh air target from being achieved. For example, some environments have more people in them than originally anticipated and/or changes can be made with partitioning.

It is not practical (sometimes impossible) to be opening windows or doors, especially during Melbourne’s peak Summer and Winter seasons, to compensate for the lack of fresh air in these environments.

Finally the one thing that is perhaps the most important consideration of all, which is not currently mandated, is air quality monitoring and active control of flushing these spaces with outside air.

There are currently different ways of both passively monitoring and actively controlling the introduction of enough fresh air to maintain a healthy working environment.

By introducing monitoring and active control measures, a safe and healthy work place is more likely to be created.

This can benefit the workplace by bringing a higher level of productivity, as well as decreasing days lost to illness.

With all of this in mind we at Coldflow Air Conditioning, using our cutting edge innovations and 50 years’ experience at the forefront of the industry, can offer you the tools to achieve this immediately.

We offer free of charge inspections to assess your working environments and advise on cost effective solutions to make the health of all your employees a priority in these challenging times.

Sick Building Syndrome

The term ‘sick building syndrome’ (SBS) is used to describe an excess of chronic symptoms.
Some short term symptoms may be described as irritation of the skin, eyes and throat
Headache, drowsiness and general irritancy are also indicators of SBS.
Long term symptoms such as cancer and respiratory disease may be caused by long term, periodic exposure to chemicals such as formaldehyde and microscopic fibres such as asbestos.

Are you interested in finding out more?

We have our team ready to work with you via your preferred online remote meeting place, or as restrictions allow, in person.

You can download a copy of this information and or Contact Coldflow to discuss further.