Office Building Air Quality Problems
CLICK HERE to read the full report…
Some of the indoor air quality problems uncovered during our energy audit of an office building in Missoula
Indoor Air Quality Problems in an Office Building in Missoula, MT
This case study is detailed in our inspection report which describes our inspection findings and recommendations for correcting problems we found that were causing indoor air quality issues in an office building in Missoula, MT. Along with a variety of other businesses, the building contains three dental offices. Each of these had equipment in the mechanical room in the basement. Much of this equipment was incorrectly installed and was causing sewer gases to be forced into the air in the building. This was the worst of a range of issues that we discovered including many energy efficiency problems.
The clients are in the process of remedying the situation following our recommendations. If they are able to convince the majority of the owners of the building to implement most of our recommendations we believe that the building will be MUCH healthier, more comfortable, safer, and significantly more energy efficient.
Modified Energy Audit
Our inspection was basically a modified version of our standard comprehensive energy audit. For every building on which we perform an energy audit we look carefully at much more than just the potential for energy savings. Energy efficiency is obviously a primary focus but we also are careful to investigate any potential health, safety, comfort, and durability issues with the building at the same time. In this particular case we placed an extra emphasis on the indoor air quality issues that were causing health issues with at least one of the occupants of the building. However, very often indoor air quality and other problems with buildings go hand in hand with energy efficiency problems and this was certainly the case in this example. CLICK HERE to read the full report…