Commercial buildings that were vacant during the pandemic are now welcoming back employees. Facility managers are focusing on ways to optimize indoor air quality to reduce the spread of illnesses like COVID-19.
According to the CDC and ASHRAE, increasing outside air inside a facility helps flush out contaminants that may be inside buildings. At DMA, we know that outside air is essential to maintaining air quality indoors. However, anytime you increase outside air intake into a building during a hot summer day, it will decrease the efficiency of your central cooling systems.
While improving occupant comfort and air quality in buildings can often create an added cost, the key to avoiding budget challenges is maintaining energy efficiency. Better energy efficiency often means better building performance. Paying close attention to your systems, while being energy efficient, means that your indoor air quality and tenant comfort are going to increase too. It’s a win-win.
Don’t forget that CPACE can help building owners pay for energy-efficient programs which will improve indoor air quality and make buildings healthier for workers. We can help you identify a solution and facilitate your CPACE application – we’ve done this many times. You may be ripe for a recommissioning project that can address the challenges brought on by COVID-19.