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Healthy
Workspaces Do you suffer from a runny nose, itchy / irritated eyes, or hacking cough? Is it allergy season? Or could it be your poorly ventilated workspace? Indoor air quality (IAQ) is one of many environmental factors that can have lasting effects on the comfort, health, and productivity of employees. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Americans spend approximately 90% of their time indoors and most of us spend several of our weekday hours in an office setting. Studies conducted by the EPA have shown that indoor air quality sometimes has higher pollutant levels than those found outside. Although most buildings do not have extremely poor air quality, even the best maintained buildings can generate pollutants from routine maintenance activities such as exterminating, using cleaning products, renovating / remodeling, painting, and installing new furniture / carpet. What you can do: Use natural building materials to reduce the release of chemicals into the air Meyer Design, Inc. can recommended environmentally safe materials from our Resource Center for your next project. Our Resource Center contains hundreds of sustainable products including: recycled upholstery, carpet, wall covering, wood, metal and lighting. In 2003 Meyer Design, Inc. instituted a company-wide campaign to specify environmentally sustainable products whenever possible and practical. Maintain your HVAC system and air filters A consistent preventive maintenance program is necessary to ensure your HVAC system is functioning properly. Simply maintaining your HVAC system and air filters can improve the quality of the air that enters your workspace from outside the building. Use proper ventilation Make sure your furniture, partitions, and office equipment are not blocking supply from air registers. Keeping registers free from blockages, or sometimes just opening a window, will increase airflow from outdoors to indoors, which ultimately dilutes toxins in the air. If your space does not have efficient ventilation (either mechanical or natural), the air exchange rate will be low and pollutant levels could increase. The air exchange rate is the rate at which outdoor air replaces indoor air. You can find more
information at the EPA's website: www.epa.gov.
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