Returning to the Office? Make Sure Your HVAC Isn’t Doing More Harm Than Good

Especially in the cooler months of the year, Americans spend an overwhelming majority of their time indoors. Since most of those waking hours will occur in a shared workspace, the quality of the air in the building can impact the health, comfort, and even the productivity of the workers. To ensure a building’s employees are breathing safely and easily, all one must do is have the HVAC system checked and serviced by a licensed commercial HVAC contractor. For so many reasons, this is essential.

There are several ways in which a business can improve air quality in the office. These include:

• Scheduling regular maintenance to make sure the system is working properly and the vents in the building are clean and clear.
• Be sure that nothing is blocking any vents or air grates, as this can negatively impact the quality of air circulating in the building.
• If there are plants in the office, make sure they are watered and maintained properly. Plants, as many people already know, absorb carbon dioxide and emit oxygen, improving the air quality in a building.
• Dispose of garbage in a timely manner. The fumes and smells that come associated with unemptied trash can be distracting for workers.
• Store food properly. Again, certain aromas can be unpleasant and distracting.
• Avoid allowing materials in the building that could release any toxic or irritating odors.
• If you notice a potential air quality concern in your building, notify a superior or the building/facility manager to have it corrected.

The easiest way to put it is that our professionals want to limit people’s exposure to bad air. We do this by limiting biological contaminants, chemical pollutants, and particles.

Biological contaminants include bacteria, viruses, fungi, molds, dust mite allergens, animal dander, and pollen, while chemical pollutants would include tobacco smoke, vehicle or machine emissions, spilled cleaning chemicals, and noxious gases like carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide. Particles, meanwhile, include dust, dirt, sawdust, or drywall dust. We want to protect your employees from them all.

If you feel like your office building needs an upgraded HVAC system or at least a tune-up, contact Air Services so we can get into your space to improve the quality of the air your employees are breathing. It’s a simple phone call to make, and it’s something our professionals are very good at doing.

Especially in a time when air quality is so important, we strongly encourage businesses to have another look at their HVAC systems before allowing employees to return to work.