WHO Guidelines for Indoor Air Quality: Dampness and Mould

• By: Craig Booth
• On: 22/07/2009 17:39:23
• In: Uncategorised
• Comments: 1 Add

The World Health Organisation has just published Guidelines on Indoor Air Quality: Dampness and Mould.

It does re-iterate some of the simple virtues of keeping buildings clean and dry, and critically for HVAC systems:

"Several studies have shown that the prevalence of symptoms of sick-building syndrome is often higher in air-conditioned buildings than in buildings with natural ventilation (Mendell, Smith, 1990; Seppanen, Fisk, 2002). One explanation for the association between sick-building syndrome and mechanical heating, ventilating and air-conditioning systems is microbial and chemical pollutants, which are emitted by heating, ventilating and air-conditioning components and ductwork".

You can download a copy of the Guidelines from our website here

There is of course also much emphasis on keeping buildings (and HVAC systems) dry, and on dealing properly with condensation where it is unavoidable e.g. at a cooling coil.

As practical experience shows, the majority of 20th century A/C systems (and a pretty large proportion of those installed in the last few years too) do not have properly designed and installed condensate drain trays and so you get trapped water. This is one of the reasons we've been so keen on Triventek BioBlock to stop microbiological growth where stagnant water cannot be avoided.