How to Achieve RESET Air Standards with Lloret SMART Building Systems
We tend to focus heavily on how to minimise outdoor pollution, especially from in trend topics such as cars and burning fossil fuels, however little attention is drawn to the unseen, undetected indoor air pollution and its negative connotations. On average employees spend 40 hours a week within their working environment. It is therefore our role at Lloret, to ensure the indoor air quality doesn’t negate the health and overall productivity of occupants in the buildings we install and the systems we maintain within.
As the demand for office spaces is on the rise, once again after COVID-19, Lloret is looking at ways in which we can ensure buildings look after the health and well-being of occupants. The indoor air quality has always been a critical and important aspect to healthcare facilities, this is evident in the use of the systems Lloret installed at Cleveland Clinic. Measurement and control the indoor air quality within the private hospital, not only provides comfort to patients and staff but more crucially it is vital to minimise the risk of spreading infections and airborne diseases.To measure and control of the indoor air quality within the private hospital, not only provides comfort to patients and staff but more crucially it is vital to minimise the risk of spreading infections and airborne diseases.
Today, indoor air quality and its beneficial factors have been studied to bring about a greater focus on buildings’ temperature, humidity and overall ventilation and their resultant effects. Particularly within office spaces in big cities, such as London, health and productivity benefits due to air quality have been studied and proven.
RESET Air seeks to bring to light the importance of monitoring indoor air quality, which can often be overlooked by clients. They provide building standards and a certification program, surrounding indoor air quality and prioritising a healthy building environment. RESET Air is not a mandatory standard that buildings must adhere to, but it is a guide to which buildings can actively follow, coinciding with similar standards set within WELL Building Standards for air quality requirements.
Sourced from RESET Air Standard
Indoor air pollutants amount from different sources; such as chemicals from cleaning products, outdoor pollutants being pulled into the building and the carbon dioxide we all breathe out. They all contribute to ‘sick building syndrome,’ which is a phrase used to describe how the poor levels of indoor air quality lowers productivity whilst further causing drowsiness and headaches. This is what RESET Air and its standard are seeking to minimise, ensuring buildings are ‘healthy’ for tenants to spend their working week in. With a trend of trying different means to be healthy in all aspects of our lives, the rise in ‘cycling to work’ and green juices; our places of work should also contribute to individual health goals.
Effective room ventilation might also boost productivity. Airborne infections thrive in warm, moist environments; thus HVAC units are designed to prevent these situations. The reduction of airborne illnesses being spread means fewer sick days being taken by employees, enhancing the overall productivity of a company working within the office space. Furthermore, the BMS is crucial to delivering an optimal thermal condition. It has been researched that a temperature of 21 – 24 °C (Seppanen et al., 2006) is important to sustain relative productivity in the workplace.
Lloret installs sensors to monitor the levels of pollutants such as carbon dioxide, PM (2.5 and 10), VOC’s (volatile organic compounds) within office spaces, alongside measuring humidity, temperature and occupancy. These sensors communicate to a building management systems to ensure air ventilation systems are set at specific levels, to create a healthy and comfortable working environment.
The circulation of air is not as simple as opening a window, as it not only makes people cold in winter it also brings in noise and outdoor pollutants. RESET Air provides a baseline which building projects and renovations can focus on achieving air quality to which is becoming an important factor to consider amongst our clients and customers.
Whilst building certifications highlights the industry’s progression to incorporating modern standards. Lloret provides the smart building infrastructure, our BMS and CNS allows for publication and integration of data. We are able to install Internet of Things sensors, provide real time metrics along with fresh air control from the BMS allows for far better air quality within the buildings and spaces we operate in.