As wildfire smoke began to blanket New York City in June, employees at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, an architecture and design firm in Lower Manhattan, got a bird’s-eye view of the crisis. crisis is taking place. From their desks, nearly 30 stories above the ground, they watched the sky turn from an opaque slate blue in the morning to a filthy dishwashing gray by noon. By mid-afternoon, they were looking out at an otherworldly horizon.
“It’s apocalyptic orange,” said Charles Harris, an architect at the firm.
But inside the office, cool air wafts from ceiling vents and large screens reassure employees: “Indoor air quality is very good.”
The assessment is based on readings of indoor air quality sensors that are monitoring real-time pollution levels, including fine particulate matter that makes wildfire smoke dangerous. Sensors were installed during the pandemic, but now they are proving their worth in the new air quality emergency.
“We can say unequivocally to everyone who works here, ‘You’re safe in the office,’” says Chris Cooper, a design partner at the company.
In the United States, there is very little regulation of indoor air quality, and when a building goes live, occupants often have very little insight into whether the air they are breathing is safe. whole or not.
Indoor air quality sensors make the invisible visible. Design and engineering firms, among the early adopters, say the pandemic has spurred customer interest in the technology, who are using it to monitor air quality in real-time, optimize energy use and engage Covid-cautious tenants and employees.
Gideon D’Arcangelo, a designer at Arup, a global engineering and design firm, said: “I think a new concept has emerged that occupants may want to know data on quality. indoor air volume. “And we’re also at a point where technology can provide that information.”
However, getting the most out of new technology will require addressing longstanding obstacles to improving indoor air quality, including the nation’s aging infrastructure and lack of regulation. Interest may fade once the emergency phase of the pandemic is over, experts say.
And a sensor system is not a simple solution. “It’s a great tool,” Mr Harris said. “But we’re still figuring out what to do with it.”
pandemic prevention
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, known as SOM, not only rented space in the skyscraper at 7 World Trade Center, but also designed the entire building after the original World Trade Center was demolished. destroyed in the September 11 attacks. Because of that history, the architects prioritized health and safety, incorporating features like extra-wide stairs for emergency evacuation.
This focus on health extended to indoor air quality, and the company began designing its own offices in 2019, working on sensors as Covid-19 hit. “The pandemic has accelerated a lot of such conversations,” said Mr. Cooper, who directed the office design.
The company installed a tracking system for particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, and carbon dioxide, which a particularly important indicator during a pandemic. Because humans exhale carbon dioxide, levels of this gas can build up when people congregate in indoor spaces. High levels of carbon dioxide can be a sign that the space is not adequately ventilated — and if someone has Covid-19, coronavirus particles may also be accumulating.
When the new office opened in 2021, Amy Garlock, an architect at SOM, was nervous about moving back. Whenever she grabs a cup of coffee, she checks the office pantry air quality dashboard. “It’s always been good,” she said. “It makes me feel better about where I work.” She added, “It’s nice to have proof of the invisible.”
The sensors are linked to the ventilation system, which automatically reacts when conditions change. “We get pings whenever theres a party like that,” said Ojiakor Obinani, an architect at SOM who helped evaluate and select an air quality monitoring platform. ‘Oh, your CO2 levels are peaking’. When that happens, the ventilation will shift to a higher gear.
It is difficult to say whether the system will prevent virus transmission during a pandemic. The SOM also establishes other precautions, including vaccine requirements and social distancing protocols.
“I sneeze a lot less in this new office,” Ms. Garlock said. But she wasn’t sure it was the air quality. “Perhaps fewer people come to work because of a cold,” she speculated.
But the company has always viewed the system as a long-term investment with benefits beyond the pandemic. Studies show that good indoor air quality can reduce asthma symptoms, reduce absenteeism, and even improve cognitive function.
There can be savings, too. This system allows the SOM to supply fresh air whenever and wherever it is needed, instead of always running the ventilation system on high, Mr. Obinani said. So even though the system costs $150,000 to purchase and install, with $8,800 in annual maintenance costs, the company expects to save nearly $250,000 in energy costs over the next decade. , 25% off.
The system will also help the company deal with any possible future air quality crises, even if they have nothing to do with infectious disease.
Bustling world
As smoke drifted into the city on June 6, SOM closely monitored sensor readings. During the day, ventilation draws smoky air through high-quality filters, which help trap pollutants and keep the indoor particulate matter index low.
Still, the anxiety was evident in the office the next day, as conditions outside worsened, Mr. Cooper said. Employees gathered by the window, watching the sky darken and clustered around the sensor display, which caused no alarm about the air in the office.
“The inside feels comfortable,” Mr. Cooper said. “The uncomfortable thing is looking outside.”
Around 3 p.m., there was a blip: A sensor detected elevated particulate matter levels. The team quickly located the sensor in the exit stairs, where the air had a distinct smell of smoke. Polluted outdoor air has clearly infiltrated the stairs, and the company has warned employees not to use the stairs.
Dates vary at the company’s office in Washington, DC. There, as the ventilation increased, the indoor particulate matter levels increased. That suggests that the building may have sucked in too much outdoor air or lacked a filter good enough to capture particulate matter.
When the SOM noticed that air quality was trending in the wrong direction, it notified the building manager, who changed the system settings to reduce the amount of polluted air it drew in from the outside, and instead recirculating more indoor air. “We can call attention to that and make a change,” Mr. Cooper said. Particulate matter levels drop.
feel the struggle
The pandemic has prompted other companies to explore the use of sensors. Accounting firm Deloitte has rolled out air quality monitors at international meetings in 2021 and 2022, hoping to reassure attendees worried about the risk of Covid.
Sterling Bay, a real estate company in Chicago, has expanded indoor air quality monitoring to all of its properties and has experimented with using thermal sensors to monitor building usage. . Buildings without these systems are essentially “curtained,” said Patrick Biesty, the company’s chief technical officer.
The approach has limitations. Carbon dioxide sensors, which do not directly measure airborne pathogen levels, provide only a rough representation of the risk of infection. “There are many situations where your risk of transmission could be high, even if the concentration is high,” said Angela Eykelbosh, an environmental health scientist at the National Collaborating Center for Environmental Health in Canada. low CO2. For example, sky-high ventilation rates can keep carbon dioxide levels low in a company cafeteria, but an office worker dining out with an infected coworker could still get sick.
And getting sensors into more buildings can be challenging, especially since the interests of employers, workers, and building owners aren’t always aligned.
“The people who pay the utility bills, the people who pay the salaries, the people who pay to build the building, etc. are usually not institutions,” said Andrew Persily, an indoor air quality expert at the National. alike. Institute of Standards and Technology. “If I were the owner of the building, I would be required to put all this money into it. If employees are more productive, they don’t work for me, I won’t benefit from that. Can I increase my rent? Well, it was an interesting negotiation.”
Wider adoption, experts say, will most likely require new standards, policies and incentives, such as mandatory air quality checks or tax credits for improved building owners improve indoor air quality.
Furthermore, they add, in many buildings, the basic air-handling infrastructure — fans and filters, dampers and ducts — is poorly maintained and improving indoor air quality will need to invest in these basic technologies. Dr Eykelbosh says the sensors are a “screening tool” to warn when there may be a problem with indoor air. “And then you do something else to improve the space.”
At SOM, the day after the sky turned orange, Mr. Cooper and Mr. Harris stood in front of one of the air quality displays, exchanging data. They were confused as to how the smoke entered the office overnight and why the air quality was particularly bad in the stairwell. As architects, they consider the office not only their workplace but also a laboratory.
“We’re trying to figure out what we can learn from this to keep ourselves safe now, as well as for the future, and to make better decisions as we go,” Harris said. design buildings.”
