Environmental and air quality assessment
Comfort has a direct incidence of the satisfaction of occupants. Many criteria can be used to assess the level of comfort and well-being in an indoor environment.
If a certain lack of comfort can be tolerated, the same cannot be said for health and safety conditions which cannot be compromised. Several standards and several laws govern minimum standards to protect occupant health. In Québec, Ontario and elsewhere in Canada, Health and Safety Acts and Regulations determine the legal requirements for the quality of the workplace. These establish maximum concentrations of biological and chemical substances, minimum and maximum temperature and humidity levels, minimum levels of illumination, maximum noise levels, and so on.
Contrary to the problem of comfort, situations of dangerous environmental quality are much more serious and have generated many crisis. Unfortunately, many of these crisis, usually grouped under the banner of “Tight building syndromes “, are taking place because a simply uncomfortable situation was erroneously perceived as a danger to health and safety. In most cases, the occupants complain initially of a lack of comfort and in the absence of additional information, they came to question the safety of the environment.
Contex Environment offers a regular environmental quality assessment program for office buildings, schools, auditoriums and industry. Assessments generally consider the issue of comfort separately from health and safety issues.
The following parameters are typically observed by our professionals :
- Thermal comfort and thermal stress
- Fresh air and carbon dioxide in the environment
- Sources of chemical contamination
- Concentrations of chemical substances
- Sources of biological contamination and concentrations of microorganisms in air
- Evaluation of the Design, Operation and Maintenance of Mechanical Ventilation Systems
Our assessments are extensively documented. Regulatory requirements, building codes, minimum health and safety requirements and other standards for comfort and well-being are described.