Architects & Designers

Facilitate enhanced IEQ through quality design and construction.

Designing cost-effective buildings is pertinent in the success of a project. Providing a healthy and comfortable space for occupants provides confidence and satisfaction leading to a more productive time indoors.

Adequate IEQ is easier to achieve when you know where the source of potential pollutants can enter the building throughout not only the construction process, but also throughout the life of the building itself. Selecting the proper building products and furnishings help avoid harmful materials such as volatile organic compounds (VOC) and formaldehyde. The design of entrance areas are also important, ensuring permanent entryway systems catch and hold dirt particles. Remembering that IEQ improvements to your building can occur at any point during its use overtime.

In today's world, the significance of indoor environmental quality cannot be overlooked, spanning from personal well-being to global challenges like recent pandemics, climate changing, the rise in poor air quality and other natural disasters. Architects and designers hold a distinctive position of influence and responsibility in implementing intelligent approaches to tackle these concerns.
 

Here are some key areas of focus worth considering during building designing:

• Adequate Ventilation: Ensuring proper ventilation is crucial for maintaining indoor air quality. Architects need to design spaces with effective ventilation systems that provide a sufficient supply of fresh air while removing pollutants and odors.
• Natural Lighting: Integrating natural light into building designs not only enhances visual comfort but also promotes occupants' well-being. Architects should prioritize the strategic placement of windows, skylights, and light wells to maximize natural light penetration while minimizing glare and heat gain.
• Thermal Comfort: Designing spaces with optimal thermal comfort is essential for occupants' well-being and productivity. Architects need to consider factors such as insulation, shading devices, and efficient HVAC systems to regulate indoor temperature and humidity levels effectively.
• Acoustic Design: Noise pollution can negatively impact occupants' comfort and productivity. Architects should incorporate sound-absorbing materials, proper room layouts, and acoustic insulation to minimize noise transmission and create acoustically comfortable spaces.
• Indoor Air Quality: Architects should consider the selection of low-emission building materials, furniture, and finishes to maintain good indoor air quality. They should also plan for proper air filtration systems and adequate air exchange rates to remove pollutants and allergens effectively.
• Biophilic Design: Integrating nature-inspired elements, such as indoor plants, green walls, or natural materials, can have a positive impact on occupants' well-being, productivity, and mental health. Architects should explore biophilic design principles to create visually appealing and calming indoor environments. Live plants also act as air filtration friends. While actively reducing dust particles when they transpire, they emit water particles raising humidity levels that naturally lower dust levels.
• Material Selection: Architects should prioritize the use of sustainable and environmentally friendly materials in their designs. This includes selecting materials with low volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions, recycled content, and renewable resources.

Help satisfy occupant comfort and health with TSI solutions assisting in the overall achievement of your building’s environmental well-being. By integrating these considerations into your planning, you can create spaces that prioritize indoor environmental quality, promoting the well-being, health, and comfort of occupants while reducing the environmental impact of buildings.

SUSTAINABLE BUILDING PROGRAMS AND RESOURCES:

• LEED: the low-emitting materials credit intends to reduce chemical contaminant concentrations that can harm human health, productivity, and the environment.
• WELL Building Standard: this standard emphasizes the use of low-VOC-emitting materials in the construction of the building.
• RESET: the RESET Air Index is an index for communicating indoor environment quality (IEQ) based on concentrations of multiple types of pollutants. Unlike AQI, which only reflects the worst pollutant, the RESET Air Index is designed to reflect all pollutants.
• ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2019 - Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality: provides minimum ventilation rates and other measures for new and existing buildings that are intended to provide indoor air quality that is acceptable to human occupants and that minimizes adverse healtheffects.
• ASHRAE Standard 55-2017 - Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy: provides conditions for acceptable thermal environments intended for use in design, operation, and commissioning of buildings and other occupied spaces.