The Government’s chief medical adviser, Professor Chris Whitty says investing in building ventilation will play a key role in helping the country recover from the Covid-19 pandemic and prepare for future health emergencies.

Talking to business leaders at the recent CBI conference, he encouraged them to look closely at how they could improve the indoor air quality in their buildings to provide better long-term working conditions for employees. 

Prof Whitty went on to say, “We have realised the extraordinary importance of improving the ventilation of workplaces – not just for Covid, but also for many other respiratory infections. If we invest in that now, we’ll help the aftermath of Covid, but also cut down on other virus outbreaks like flu.”

He put investment in ventilation as the second most important step businesses could take behind helping their staff get fully vaccinated. Read the full article in the CIBSE Journal

Improving ventilation should begin with the installation of indoor air quality sensors to monitor the quality of the air and provide reliable data to help assess any ventilation issues.

Buildings with mechanical ventilation systems may just need some adjustments making to the system. By integrating good IAQ sensors with modern building management and HVAC systems ventilation, along with heating and lighting could be fully automated to make significant cost savings at the same time as improving air quality and ventilation rates.

Owners and managers of commercial buildings in Scotland may benefit from the Scottish Government's Business Ventilation Fund that aims to help businesses improve ventilation and air quality on their premises to help reduce the transmission risk of Coronavirus. With luck the English Government will follow suit but in the meantime, for smaller premises without mechanical ventilation systems, good air purifiers with HEPA filters can filter out viruses indoors when matched to the size of the room.

For more information on indoor air quality monitoring solutions and our services please call our friendly team on 0333 207 4245 who will be happy to help.