BESA Launches Indoor Air Quality Training for Clean Air Day

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15 June 2023

The Building Engineering Services Association is marking 2023’s National Clean Air Day with new IAQ training materials.

The theme of this year’s Clean Air Day is “Clean up our air to look after your mind” which is designed to draw attention to the impact poor air quality can have on mental health.

The Centre for Mental Health says that air pollution is directly associated with increased risks of poor mental health including depression, psychosis and suicide. They argue that poor air quality in public spaces reduces social contact between people, which also has an undesirable effect on our mental wellbeing.

The Building Engineering Services Association’s (BESA) Indoor Air Quality group has produced a series of guides and has been promoting the concept of the building as a “Safe Haven” from polluted outside air for some years.

As well as the training, it is unveiling a new set of guides focused on the serious health crisis caused by damp and mould in homes and several affiliate members will give presentations on the latest developments in clean air technology and IAQ best practice.

BESA’s IAQ Awareness Course will provide a useful introduction for anyone interested in the subject and for people with some working knowledge but who are keen to learn more to help them make better-informed decisions.

“We will use the opportunity provided by Clean Air Day to show why we can do so much better, including highlighting the need for more and better-skilled people able to analyse and solve IAQ problems. That is why we are also delighted to be launching this important training.”

–Nathan Wood

Chair, BESA’s Indoor Air Quality Group

 

More Ambitious Air Pollution Reduction Targets Needed

BESA also wants to step up pressure on the government to be more ambitious in its target setting for reducing air pollution, which currently lags behind the latest WHO Air Quality Guidelines (September 2021). For example, the Environment Act 2021 sets a concentration target for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) of 10 µg/m³ by 2040 against a WHO target of 5 µg/m^3.

“These disappointing targets for outdoor pollution have been carried over to IAQ and are reflected in public health guidance,” said BESA’s Indoor Air Quality Group Chair Nathan Wood.

“Besides a lack of ambition, this defeatist attitude ignores people’s natural expectation that a building should be equipped to protect them from pollution, just as it does from extreme temperatures and noise.

“We will use the opportunity provided by Clean Air Day to show why we can do so much better, including highlighting the need for more and better-skilled people able to analyse and solve IAQ problems. That is why we are also delighted to be launching this important training.”

Picture: a graphic showing a cloud, cityscape and some burning with the words "It's #CleanAirDay!" Image Credit: Clean Air Day

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 15 June 2023

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