BOULDER, Colo. — IAQ monitoring and management systems can provide a healthy and productive indoor environment while saving both energy and money, notes Navigant Research. While adoption has been somewhat limited by the rate of the global economic recovery, new standards and regulations, as well as a heightened sensitivity to how the health and comfort of office workers affects productivity, is driving greater use of these technologies. According to a new report from the research firm, worldwide revenue from IAQ systems is forecast to grow from $3.3 billion in 2014 to nearly $5.6 billion by 2020.
“The spread of indoor air quality technology requires a change in mindset on the part of architects, engineers, and building owners regarding the way buildings are designed and built,” said Benjamin Freas, research analyst with Navigant Research. “As IAQ monitoring moves away from passive systems and toward intelligent systems, accurate feedback will help building operators achieve and maintain the desired performance both initially and over the life of the buildings.”
The key technologies that support IAQ systems, according to the report, include carbon dioxide sensors and demand-controlled ventilation (which matches the delivery of the ventilated air supply to the actual occupancy levels of the building spaces). In addition, energy recovery ventilation systems recycle the energy associated with the thermally conditioned air being exhausted from a building to precondition the incoming air, and dedicated outdoor air systems decouple ventilation and thermal comfort so that they no longer compete with each other.
An executive summary of the IAQ report is available here.
Publication date: 5/12/2014
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