1. What is Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)?
2. What affects IAQ in MCPS facilities?
3. Why is IAQ important for MCPS?
4. What is MCPS doing to improve IAQ in its buildings?
5. Is there anything I can do to improve IAQ in my building?
6. How can I find out more about IAQ-related issues?
1. What is Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)?
Indoor Air quality (IAQ), sometimes called indoor air quality (IAQ), is a term used to characterize health and comfort-related conditions inside a building designed for human occupancy. Relevant factors include air temperature, relative humidity levels, airborne and surface contaminant concentrations, lighting, and noise. A building's IAQ is typically considered acceptable if occupants are not exposed to harmful contaminant concentrations and a large majority of the occupants are satisfied with Indoor Air conditions.
Occupants' perceptions of IAQ for a building, or a space within a building, can vary because of individual variations in temperature/humidity level preferences and sensitivities to chemical and biological contaminants. Perceptions can also be affected by issues that are not associated with Indoor Air conditions, such as unrelated health problems and psychosocial factors (work-related or personal stress).
2. What affects IAQ in MCPS facilities?
A building's IAQ is a product of several factors, including ventilation system operation, contaminant sources, and occupant activities.
Ventilation systems
Most classrooms and offices in MCPS facilities are served by mechanical heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems. HVAC systems for classrooms and offices are designed to control indoor temperatures by supplying heated or cooled air. These systems are also designed to dilute and remove airborne contaminants by providing a continuous supply of filtered outdoor air.
Contaminant sources
IAQ can be affected by the presence of contaminants, substances that can adversely affect occupant health and/or comfort. Common indoor contaminants include dust, fungal particles, pollen, bacteria and viruses, radon, emissions from furnishings and building materials, office equipment emissions, vehicle exhaust, emissions from cleaning and maintenance products, sewer gas, mites, animal-derived substances (insect and rodent feces and carcasses), and emissions from educational chemical products (paints, adhesives, photographic chemicals, ceramic materials).
Indoor contaminants can be generated by indoor and outdoor sources. Common indoor sources include cleaning products, maintenance and repair products, building materials, furnishings, dirty ventilation equipment, faulty plumbing equipment, office equipment, art and science products, pesticides, animals, biological contamination, and air fresheners. Occupants themselves can also act as indoor contaminant sources by introducing communicable diseases, irritants (such as personal fragrances), and allergens (animal dander, pollen, mold spores). Common outdoor sources include idling automobiles, plant life, decomposing organic matter, garbage dumpsters, soil and rocks, water, and building exhausts that are located near outdoor air intakes for HVAC equipment.
Occupant activities
Occupant activities can impact IAQ by affecting contaminant generation and HVAC system performance. Indoor air contaminants can be generated by various types of occupant activities, such as maintenance and repair work, construction operations, painting, housekeeping, art and science activities, and office work (copying, printing). HVAC system performance at MCPS facilities is determined largely by the manner in which ventilation equipment is maintained and operated by building occupants. Occupants can ensure adequate performance through routine preventive maintenance (cleaning and inspecting mechanical components, replacing dirty air filters) and proper operation (leaving ventilation units on, ensuring that grilles/diffusers are not obstructed, leaving windows and doors closed, maintaining appropriate thermostat settings, and ensuring that thermostats are adequately exposed to room air).
3. Why is IAQ important for MCPS?
IAQ has received increasing attention in the last 10–15 years as U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) studies of air pollution have determined that indoor contaminant concentrations can be 2-5, and sometimes more than 100 times, higher than outdoor concentrations. Because children are believed to be more susceptible to air contaminants, IAQ is especially important for school buildings. The consequences of poor IAQ in schools, according to EPA, include:
4. What is MCPS doing to improve IAQ in its buildings?
In 1997, MCPS convened the Indoor Air Quality Process Action Team (a group of school officials, county officials, parents, and employee labor union officials) to develop recommendations for improving Indoor Air conditions in MCPS facilities. The team generated a report (MCPS IAQ PAT Final Report) with over 50 specific recommendations for preventing and correcting IAQ-related problems. The report also provided an overall goal:
To achieve, maintain, and where necessary, to restore an indoor air quality environment in which everyone in a Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) facility can perform the necessary tasks of learning, teaching, administering, and sustaining facilities in a safe and healthy manner.
Based on the recommendations, MCPS implemented an IAQ Program consisting of two components: a proactive element, intended to prevent problems by ensuring adequate preventive maintenance of buildings and building plant equipment, and a reactive element, created to efficiently and effectively correct problems that arise in MCPS facilities.
Proactive Element
The proactive element of the program involves site visits by the IAQ Preventive Maintenance (PM) Team, which consists of environmental safety specialists, ventilation mechanics, technicians, and an electrician. The site visits are designed to identify and correct deficiencies (i.e., mechanical ventilation-related problems, poor maintenance and cleaning practices, occupant activities that negatively affect Indoor Air conditions) that can cause IAQ problems. Corrective work (which often requires collaboration by building staff, the IAQ Team, and the local Division of Maintenance depot) typically involves training for building personnel, ventilation equipment repairs and cleaning, and modification of occupant activities. Upon completing each visit, the IAQ Team presents building staff with a written Building Maintenance Plan (BMP) that provides specific information and procedures necessary for maintaining acceptable Indoor Air conditions.
Reactive Element
The reactive element exists to ensure prompt evaluation and correction of IAQ-related problems that arise in MCPS facilities. Typically, an environmental safety coordinator initiates an evaluation upon receiving an Indoor Air Quality Complaint form (MCPS Form 230-23) and a corresponding Building Services Indoor Air Quality Checklist (MCPS Form 230-24) reporting a problem. Using observations, staff interviews, and IAQ readings, the coordinator attempts to identify the cause(s) of the problem and appropriate corrective action.
5. Is there anything I can do to improve IAQ in my building?
Occupants play a major role in ensuring acceptable IAQ in their buildings. Listed below are several action items MCPS personnel can complete to improve conditions in their buildings. MCPS personnel can also evaluate their buildings using detailed checklists provided by EPA. Teachers can find additional information at the Tips for Teachers page.
Educational, Administrative, and Support Staff
Ventilation
Potential Contaminants
Cleanliness
Building Service Staff
Ventilation
Potential Contaminants
Cleanliness
Building Administrators
Ventilation
Potential Contaminants
Cleanliness
6. How can I find out more about IAQ-related issues?
Additional IAQ-related information can be found at the web sites listed on our Links page. More information about MCPS' IAQ programs can be obtained by contacting Environmental Safety Coordinator Sean Yarup at 301-926-4409.