Indoor air quality has become an up-and-coming topic in today’s news, as more and more research has come to light illustrating the adverse effects that this common issue brings to the forefront not only for personal indoor environments but now, more importantly to industrial environments. The cause of the air quality epidemic began when one of the largest environmental agencies, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began testing and publishing findings of significant levels of indoor air pollution in indoor environments. They found from studying human exposure to air pollutants that more than 90 percent of Americans spends their time indoors, and that on average this indoor air’s pollution levels may be two to five times – and occasionally more than 100 times – higher than outdoor levels.
Indoor air quality (IAQ) can become compromised in indoor environments from a variety of different sources, anything from biological, chemical, and physical factors that can emit airborne pollutants into the airspace. Small air filtration products were originally developed for air quality problems within smaller-scale environments like homes, apartments, and other living environments that dealt with or experienced elevated levels of pollutants in the air. However, with increasingly more reports and documented cases over the last decade regarding “sick building syndrome”, the manufacturers of air quality solutions have begun to engineer commercial air quality solutions that can be implemented on a larger-scale inside of industrial factories and other known-hazardous commercial businesses for air quality control.
Indoor Air Quality Guidelines and Standards for Buildings
When it comes to the issue of indoor air quality in both residential and commercial indoor environments, this problem centers around proper airflow and ventilation within the structure. Many building infrastructures recently built are designed with energy conservation in mind, which leads to the tightening of building envelopes and reduced air filtration within the indoor building. This can lead to a congestion of pollutants trapped within the space of this commercial structure and ultimately this will cause a significant reduction in indoor air quality for workers and other individuals exposed to this indoor environment. In addition, indoor air quality can also be a result of a number of catalysts present inside of the structure including the site, climate, the building systems, construction techniques, outdoor air quality, building occupants, and maintenance of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems.
The concept behind understanding the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) landscape of your business includes identifying areas within the building structures, functions, and occupancy that can disrupt and negatively impact the air quality within this commercial environment. For example, depending on the day-to-day activities that are performed within this industrial space such as chemical treatments, lab processing, product manufacturing, etc. there will be a higher susceptibility to IAQ problems in the environment that can lead to health risks for those workers who are exposed to the airborne pollutants on a daily basis. This indoor air quality issue in commercial/industrial work environments has led to stricter indoor air quality guidelines and standards, particularly set in place by ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers) that regulates proper ventilation and air flow requirements in these environments to aid in the mitigation and reduction of potential indoor air contaminants.
What Causes Indoor Air Pollution in Commercial Buildings
When it comes to the factors behind indoor air quality in commercial buildings, it is often a larger more variable concept than simply dealing with one source or culprit in the environment that is producing elevated levels of air pollution in the air space. There are numerous variables involved in the contribution of poor IAQ in a commercial building such as sources of pollution and odors, the building design, maintenance and overall operation of the facility’s ventilation system, moisture and humidity levels, and occupants’ perceptions and susceptibility levels.
The regulation of indoor air quality measurements and levels in a commercial building can involve the integration of several pinnacle strategies within the indoor environment, according to the EPA. The first strategy will focus on the management of pollutant sources in the environment, whether that be certain materials utilized, equipment implemented, or even ventilation and air flow issues throughout the entire building structure. As you begin to identify these sources of pollutants within the commercial building, mitigation methods will need to be implemented to help remove them or isolate them from heavily populated areas within the building. The second strategy will include the dilution of pollutants by removing them from the building using ventilation solutions that will be effectively integrated within the entire facility to cover all indoor areas. Lastly, the third strategy for IAQ control in a commercial building is to use air quality solutions and filtration products to aid in the remediation of the air by filtering out pollutants from the air space.
Common Commercial Industries with IAQ Problems
Commercial and industrial buildings and facilities have begun to see the value in implementing indoor air quality and ventilation solutions into these indoor spaces. These indoor air quality and ventilation systems are utilized to ensure the protection of employees from tainted indoor air quality levels and potentially toxic compounds within the environment that can be produced from their manufacturing/processing procedures. Each industry is different and will face their own IAQ problems within their facilities including VOCs, noxious odors, particulate matter, and even ventilation problems which can lead to an elevation of pollutant levels.
Below we are going to discuss some of the leading industries that experience IAQ problems and learn what air quality problems they face within their indoor commercial building structure.
Cannabis Dispensaries
As the manufacturing and production of cannabis has increased, these cannabis grow houses and dispensaries have come under heavy scrutiny for lack of odor control maintenance within their indoor facilities’. A lack of odor control within these cannabis businesses has led to the chemical odors produced from the growing of these cannabis crops to spread rapidly through the air of neighboring residential areas. Thus, the implementation of odor control solutions in cannabis grow facilities have become state mandated in some areas, as these facilities require the need for an engineered odor-controlled solution to be set in place throughout their business area to stay within compliance of these regulations.
Cigar Lounges
Indoor air quality issues that are experienced within the indoor environment(s) of a cigar lounge/bar can be a significant issue that these businesses face on a daily basis. These businesses deal with the excessive production of smoke odors and particulates in this indoor air space that can lead to many looming dangers in the environment. Therefore, the incorporation of both high efficiency filtration and an absorbent media to contain and remove airborne contaminants and odors from the air is an indispensable addition to the thriving industry of cigar lounges.
Nail & Hair Salons
During the application of nail and hair salon products, the formation of a strong salon smell will become produced into the air space of this enclosed area that is composed of various chemical compounds. Many of the products used in this industry contain active chemicals and other dangerous Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) within its composition that can lead to toxic exposure for human health, especially to salon workers who face severe amounts of exposure in their work environment. Thus, there have been increasingly more effective ventilation and air quality technologies introduced into the salon industry that many of these nail and/or hair salons have begun to implement into their facilities to mitigate the potentially toxic airborne pollutants from the air space.
Pet Facilities
In response to the advancements in the pet industry, more and more focus is being placed on providing pet-owners advanced service options for your pets including pet grooming, pet care, pet transportation, boarding and kennel facilities, and day-time doggy daycare. However, with the development of this popular industry there have been several issues at the forefront in these businesses including airborne allergens (pet dander) and odor control in the indoor environment of these facilities. Thus, there has been a significant importance placed on proper ventilation and air quality purification in these businesses, which has led to the production of odor control solutions for this booming pet industry.
Gyms & Fitness Centers
The gym industry was created to design an environment for individuals to build strength, agility, and to overall improve health. However, because of the nature of the activities that occur in this environment, these indoor facilities’ can promote and harbor excessive amounts of odors within their indoor airspace that can taint indoor air quality in the commercial space. Therefore, many of these industries facilities are looking to integrate air quality and ventilation solutions in their indoor spaces to improve the air quality and odors in the environment in hopes to appeal to Customers and create a healthier space for their clientele-base.
Hospitality Industry
This industry typically experiences high-traffic and fast turnover rates which can lead to and progress the development of odor problems in the indoor space. Some odor issues that are commonly dealt with in these types of businesses are smoking odors, mildew and mold odors, and even pet odors in some cases. Therefore, the integration and placement of odor control and ventilation systems throughout these indoor environments in the hospitality industry is a necessity to create a pleasurable environment for Customers and to help increase Customer retention in the future.
Senior Living & Nursing Homes
Senior living and care facilities have seen a substantial growth that has led to many innovative product offerings that are now being implemented into this industry, including air quality solutions to help mitigate hazardous and noxious airborne chemicals and odors in the indoor air of these facilities. The indoor air quality within these industries businesses can have a significant impact on the residents of these senior living environments who are susceptible to many different environmental factors that can disrupt their health. Therefore, the rise of air quality solutions in senior living and nursing homes has skyrocketed in recent years, to help combat and create an ambient environment for the residents of these communities.
Laboratories
The laboratory industry faces several challenges, and most of these internal challenges center around the risks of chemical mishandling, spills, or vapor releases within the environment that can impact personnel within this indoor space. Hazardous chemicals create both physical and health threats to workers in clinical, industrial, and academic labs that are handling these dangerous chemical compounds. Many of the popularly handled and used chemicals in labs can include carcinogens, toxins, irritants, corrosives, sensitizers, hepatotoxins, nephrotoxins, neurotoxins, etc. These toxic chemicals can significantly alter indoor air quality and will create the need for effective and safe air filtration for maintenance of air quality conditions.
Timilon® Engineered Commercial Air Quality Solutions
Timilon® Technology Acquisition LLC is an innovative and rapidly growing company focused on the development and commercialization of our proprietary nanochemisty technologies and materials. The technology is based around environmentally safe advanced high surface area metal oxide powders that exhibit unique chemical reactivity characteristics. The primary performance capability of the materials is to, destroy, neutralize, eliminate, and/or protect against a wide variety of toxic chemicals, noxious odors, and biological hazards. The materials work by adsorbing and reacting with the chemical and/or biological targets to create environmentally safe byproducts through an “adsorptive neutralization” process. This technology is used in several existing and new markets. A key market that will benefit from expanded use of Timilon’s technology is Indoor Air Quality. The Timilon product ranges include air quality solutions from two of our brands; EnviroKlenz and OdorKlenz.
EnviroKlenz® focuses on the addressing odors and chemical contamination in airspaces, surfaces, and on contents through a variety of products to collectively create a clean air environment in both personal airspaces and commercial/industrial airspaces. The EnviroKlenz® air quality solutions are comprised of a Standard Mobile Air Purifier, UV Air Purifier, HVAC Filter, and odor elimination pads to aid in the removal of noxious and toxic chemicals and odors. The commercial use of EnviroKlenz® air quality solutions can be used in industries including the following;
- Cannabis industries
- Cigar lounges/bars
- Nail and Hair Salons
- Laboratories
The OdorKlenz® product line is designed for consumers, high-end commercial, and home-industrial environments that need to eliminate a range of odors including pet odors, sweat and body odors, mildew and mold odors, urine and feces odors. The OdorKlenz® air quality solutions are comprised of Standard Mobile Air Purifier, odor elimination pad, and HVAC Filter that can all be easily integrated into any commercial building or facility. For commercial use of the OdorKlenz® air quality solutions, they can easily be implemented into the following industries with high levels of success;
- Pet Facilities
- Gyms & Fitness Centers
- Hospitality Industries
- Senior Living & Nursing Homes
