New indoor air quality accreditation scheme launched

AirRated has launched an international certification scheme for indoor air quality.

The benchmark aims to help owners and occupiers of residential new builds, public sector buildings including schools, hospitals, libraries and office buildings to better understand, improve and communicate air quality information.

The certification is underpinned by peer-reviewed academic research and is aligned to global building standards and health guidelines.

An AirScore is generated following a monitoring period of three weeks and is valid for a period of 12 months. The three-week AirRated environmental survey gathers information about indoor air quality (IAQ) using high specification sensor technology.

Outdoor data from local, in-situ monitoring stations are also gathered, analysed and taken into consideration, as this heavily influences IAQ. Once collected, AirRated’s in-house environmental scientists test these datasets against the AirRated Scoring System, to generate an AirScore.

The AirScore is calculated following monitoring of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), carbon dioxide (CO2), total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs), temperature and humidity.

PM2.5, CO2 and TVOCs must meet a minimum threshold requirement for 95% of survey hours in order to pass. The ratings are tiered, ranging from ‘AirScore Certified’, ‘Silver’, ‘Gold’ up to the highest level, ‘Platinum’.

Following the certification, AirRated can also advise clients on strategies for improving their indoor environments and on communicating this to prospective, buyers, tenants or building occupants.

Olga Baker Turner CEO of AirRated said: ‘Our aim at AirRated is to create an internationally accepted industry standard for classifying Indoor Air Quality across all use classes in the built environment.

‘At AirRated, we support our clients in promoting healthy environments by raising awareness of Indoor Air Quality and providing bespoke strategies for improvement.

‘Air quality is arguably the single greatest determinant of our overall health and well-being in buildings, and it is paramount that we begin to map and quantify this in order to develop better strategies for improving Indoor Air Quality and creating better living, working and leisure environments.’