Hyper ventilation

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Clean air inside can start on the outside, with well maintained equipment.

Climate complications

The climate in the Middle East is a big issue for air conditioning and any other system that relies on a good level of ventilation. The high temperatures and humidity means there is no chance of opening a window or door in order to achieve a good amount of fresh air.

Also a dusty and seldom clear sky in places such as Dubai means the air quality outdoors is lower than normal. Blanchflower reports: "People here frequently spend over 90% of their time indoors and humidity control has generally been ignored. Energy efficient motives are starting to drive tighter buildings and this causes reduced ventilation levels."

He adds that there have been reduced budgets for building maintenance in the region and this has caused a further drop in the quality of indoor air.

"I think in some cases the infiltration into the buildings can be an issue when they build these beautiful buildings, how tight are they? If you are supplying nice quality air into the room, is that being mixed with the hot humid air that is coming through cracks in the windows and doors not closing properly," Kelly reveals. "Its certainly going to reduce sickness in the building certainly times of high humidity and you have a lot of people getting sick during the hot and humid months."

When trying to achieve a good indoor air quality, Svensson describes ventilation as "the most important part". He also points out the importance of a relation between supply and exhaustion of clean air in order to achieve an air balance.

Kelly explains its role in green building designs: "In this climate you are always going to have to have some form of air conditioning and ventilation and in order to produce green buildings we are going to need to start using new technology.

People will need to be prepared to pay the price to install this at a higher capital cost." Kelly goes on to explain the upside of this initial investment, as savings can be made on electricity bills.

In commercial buildings, there is a decreased amount of downtime from staff in well-ventilated buildings due to less illness and cleaner air.

Varying ventilations

Ventilation is not the sole reason why good indoor air quality is or isn't achieved. A building or room needs contaminant source control, in order to guard against gaseous, microbiological or particulate germs, which can enter a building from the outdoors or can be generated indoors.

An American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) paper written in May 2005 also pointed out the need to manage humidity correctly: "Due to the proliferation of mould in buildings, sound moisture management should take precedence over energy cost savings".

Filtration is also an important factor in achieving a good quality of air indoors and it is crucial to ensure it is maintained properly. However despite these factors, Svensson stresses the significance of proper ventilation: "Ventilation is the most important part to achieve clean air." He also points to building tightness as a feature not to be ignored.

ASHRAE has recently released a guideline on residential indoor air quality and ventilation, which gives information on the ASHRAE Standard 62.2-2007 and offers advice on system design, material selection, commissioning and installation and operation and maintenance.

It is aimed at designers and builders and is indicative of the high level of importance currently being placed on ventilation and indoor air quality.

While these guidelines are a massive help for the understanding construction industry, Kelly also believes a closer relationship between manufacturers and consultants is needed: "Over time when you build up a good relationship with a big consultancy firm where a decision maker can see you are doing a good job then it the task becomes much easier."

If a high standard of indoor air quality is to be achieved in the Middle East then more focus is needed on ventilation issues. There is no doubt that the climate in this part of the world is worsening the problem.

Now manufacturers, consultants and contractors all need to step up to the challenge to ensure that people in the area can enjoy cleaner air, and ultimately a clean bill of health, while indoors in the future.

Guidelines such as ASHRAE's and the forward thinking of some firms in this region suggest that the quality of air is soon to be rising in the Middle East.

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