Chapter 1

1. Chapter 1 Indoor Air Quality Indoor Air Quality • History of Indoor Air Quality • IAQ Factors • Stationary Engineer’s Role • Legal Liabilities

2. Chapter 1 Indoor Air Quality Indoor Air Quality • History of Indoor Air Quality • IAQ Factors • Stationary Engineer’s Role • Legal Liabilities

3. People are usually notified in some manner (by TV, radio, or internet) as to the quality of outdoor air, but the quality of indoor air is usually unknown by building occupants.

4. Since the 1970s, buildings are more tightly sealed, reducing heating and air conditioning costs.

5. Cooling towers and the area around a cooling tower may be a source of IAQ problems as bacteria grows in the moist conditions.

6. Indoor air can contain vapors from cleaning products, building materials, carpet, furniture, combustion sources, photocopiers, fax machines, and particulates like dust, dirt, pollen, mold, bacteria, and many other types of particles and pesticides brought in from outdoors or generated indoors.

7. Millions of Americans spend a majority of their week in schools. One in five schools report unsatisfactory indoor air quality, while one in four schools report unsatisfactory ventilation.

8. The location of building occupants, the amount of contaminants in the air, and occupants’ varying susceptibility to a specific contaminant are all factors that determine which occupants are affected by the contaminant and when they feel the effects.

9. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a number of documents that address IAQ communication with building occupants.

10. Building occupants must know how to contact the responsible person(s) that can receive and respond to IAQ complaints. Complaints must be handled promptly and every incident given serious attention.

11. Health and safety committees are useful in disseminating information to building occupants and should be made up of building owner personnel, stationary engineers, facility personnel, health and safety officials, and tenant representatives.

12. Notices or memoranda of a complaint investigation can be delivered directly to selected occupants by mailings or posted in general-use work areas, cafeterias, or floor lobby areas.

13. Even though the federal government has not passed any bills into law regarding IAQ standards, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Federal Register do have IAQ standards and notices that some individual states have passed into law.