Indoor air quality

Leading manufacturer of safety alarms and equipment, Kidde Safety Europe has launched a new carbon dioxide (CO2) monitor to help people to understand and improve indoor air quality in homes, workplaces, schools and hospitality venues. The mains powered non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) monitor complies with the Scottish Building Standards requirements for the mandatory CO2 monitors that must be installed in all homes. Kidde is a part of Carrier Global Corporation (NYSE: CARR), the leading global provider of healthy, safe, sustainable and intelligent building and cold chain solutions. 

Often residents do not understand the importance of correct ventilation in the properties, and without realising it they can even create the poor air quality in their own dwelling, and the higher relative humidity levels, which may ultimately lead to mould growth.

Some may even tape up ventilation grills as they don’t like to “feel the cold” especially as they perceive this wastes energy they are paying for.

With over 80,000 units manufactured and sold in the UK since 2013, Radfan enables residents to feel warmer more quickly, potentially saving energy costs.

By circulating air within the rooms where they are situated also helps dispel the conditions which promote mould growth. 

Leading British ventilation manufacturer, Vent-Axia, will showcase its latest continuous ventilation solutions at this year’s InstallerSHOW at the NEC, Birmingham (27-29 June 2023). Located in the BEAMA1 Village, visitors to Vent-Axia’s stand will be able to discover simple solutions designed to remove the risk to installers when retrofitting ventilation by ensuring compliance with the latest Part F (Means of Ventilation) of the Building Regulations. On show will be a range of continuous ventilation including Vent-Axia’s app-controlled Lo-Carbon Svara, its highly efficient Lo-Carbon NBR dMEV C, and the Vent-Axia PureAir Sense with odour sense technology.

Leading British ventilation manufacturer Vent-Axia is supporting Clean Air Day on Thursday 15 June 2023 and welcomes the theme “Clean up our air to look after your mind this #CleanAirDay”. Clean Air Day is led by environmental charity Global Action Plan and is the UK’s largest campaign on air pollution. It aims to improve public understanding of air pollution, build awareness of how air pollution affects our health, and explain the easy actions we can all take to tackle air pollution, helping protect the environment and our health.

With Monday 5th June being World Environment Day, the focus will rightly be on how we preserve our planet’s fragile environment.

But never forget that other special mini-environment - the one within our homes.

Improving and managing air quality, both for new-builds and existing dwellings, will be a major priority as the EPC regulations change up to 2030.
 
Advice published by NICE, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, urges authorities to ‘embed a plan for improving indoor air quality in an existing strategy or plan to improve people’s health.’ It adds that ‘the emphasis should be a balanced approach to ventilation, insulation and heating to achieve it.’
 
The BRE Trust, an independent charity dedicated to improving the built environment, goes further. It estimates that poor housing is costing the NHS £1.4billion a year to treat those affected.

So what are the main problems that need to be overcome and the latest high-tech solutions that could help?

VORTICE has launched a new Positive Input Ventilation System (PIV) in both loft and wall versions to help eradicate the issue of mould in the home.   We spend more than 90% of our time indoors and unless we take steps to ventilate our homes correctly, the quality of the air we breathe can be 50 times more polluted than outdoor air, with all the associated health risks. Why is that? We are sealing up our homes and when you contemplate the number of cleaning products, hair sprays, paints, air fresheners, new furniture and carpets that we bring into our home, you’ll realise what we’re feeding into our indoor air. One of the main issues is the rise of humidity, encouraging the presence of condensation, mould and dust mites in the home and if not treated properly can cause or increase health risks such as breathing issues or skin allergies.