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Is clean air a luxury, a nice to have or a necessity? Well, firstly you need to understand that our body needs 3 raw materials to thrive – food, water and air. While we can live without food for 3 weeks, water for 3 days, we would not make it across the 3-minute mark without air. Also, while we consume 1-3 liters of food in a day, 2-5 liters of air in a day, we inhale 12,000 liters of air – 24,000 breaths of about 0.48 liters with each breath. This amounts to 14 kg of air inhaled each day, larger than food and water combined. 14 of the top 14 worst air quality Cities are in India according to a WHO survey of 4300 Cities around the World. From Ahmedabad to Kolkatta, our air is severely polluted across the Indo-Gangetic plain. The presence of high concentrations of nanoparticles, called PM2.5, that are an established carcinogen, begs the question – is clean air a luxury or a compliance issue to meet occupational health and safety standards? Bad air affects our health, our productivity, our cognitive well-being, our emotional well-being and our productivity and performance. In developed economies, there are established standards that businesses must comply with for Indoor air and environment quality. Businesses have to comply with these health and safety standards or they are shut down. In India, even our hospitals where infection control is a clear mandate, these health and safety standards are looked upon as a luxury, a nice to have. While the Operation Theatre has HEPA filters to remove PM2.5, a toxin, the ICU and patient recovery rooms is laden with PM2.5 as the building is not engineered to remove these pollutants. Speaks volumes about the value of human life in our Country. Healthcare has become such a commercial activity that even doctors choose to ignore this in Cities where the PM2.5 levels are being put in your face, daily. Consumers have to rise and demand change – our kids go to school/college, you stay in a hotel, or are admitted to a hospital, or your place of work, or you visit a theatre or restaurant for entertainment – should these establishments provide a ‘safe’ environment for their patrons or occupants? It is estimated that the residents of Delhi smoke an average of 6.5 cigarettes daily or 2,400 cigarettes per year, just by breathing. There are Green solutions available that can engineer indoor environments which meet and exceed International standards of health and safety – the management of these schools, offices, hotels, hospitals, cinemas, restaurants can’t care about our health and safety, if we don’t!! I urge you to be aware and demand change – ask about the indoor air quality, wherever you go. As more and more start asking the question, I am certain that it will sow the seeds of change. Again, we need to decide if we want to simply survive or thrive!!

So, here’s what we know: India has 13 of the top 20 worst air quality Cities of the World out of a survey of 1600 Cities by the World health Organization. Frankly, in my opinion, 20 out of the top 20 are in India, the rest just haven’t been surveyed yet. We also know that indoor air quality is typically 5-10 times worse than the outdoor air. We know that if you are breathing outdoor air, you are smoking an average of 20 cigarettes daily, just by breathing. Breathing air rich in PM2.5 affects our health and performance and reduces our lifespan. Well, if we already know all of this then IAQ is not a ‘nice to have,’ but really more a ‘compliance’ issue to meet occupational standards of safety and health. I am not a proponent of portable units(air purifiers) in the workplace, especially in offices with a high density of workers per square foot. Here are the reasons: You allow polluted air in and then are scrambling to clean the air with portables, after the fact. For the portables to be successful you need a fairly sealed environment. While you filter the air for PM2.5 and Volatile Organic Compounds(VOCs), the Carbon Dioxide levels will start to rise with all the workers breathing in close proximity in a sealed environment. CO2 is also a pollutant and will lower performance and make you lethargic and sleepy. Each year you need to throw the consumable filters into landfills, so it creates more waste. The optimal solution for businesses (offices, gyms, hotels, hospitals, restaurants, cinemas, etc) is to retrofit their existing HVAC sytems(AHUs & TFAs) with Electronic Air Cleaners(EAC) that are MERV 14 rated, or better – we call this Central Air Purification. Combine this with real time monitoring, so you don’t take your eye off the ball. Benefits of Central Air Purification include the following: You filter the air at the source, so no dirty air enters the premises. Your coils, ducts and FCUs(if any), will not require frequent cleaning. It is possible to create a slight positive pressure, so that each time the doors open, filter air goes out and no polluted air enters the building. The HVAC systems are designed to introduce 10-30% outdoor air so that the CO2 levels are maintained. Electronic Air Cleaners do not require expensive filter changes, only a cleaning each month. The EACs replace the existing media filters on the AHUs and TFAs and have a lower pressure drop, this leads to some energy savings as well. Real time monitoring, with alerts helps you diagnose problems as they come along, so that you can troubleshoot and take the appropriate steps immediately. Nirvana Being is a leader in the Central Air Purification domain in India with clients across verticals. They have a combination of solutions for Indoor air quality and Indoor Environment Quality, which includes the treatment of the surfaces as well to achieve an allergy friendly space which meets all Global standards of occupational safety and health. More information about Nirvana Being’s Central Air Purification is available at https://www.nirvanabeing.com/central-air-purification/.