What is it?
Indoor air quality is the set of physical, chemical and biological characteristics of the air in an enclosed space.
It is an integrating concept: it covers the presence of pollutants, ventilation conditions, air renewal, humidity, temperature and other parameters of the indoor environment.
In the assessment of healthy indoor environments, it is one of the fundamental aspects for understanding how a building behaves environmentally and for guiding possible improvement measures.
Where can it be found?
It can be affected by both internal and external sources.
Internal sources include building materials, paints, furniture, cleaning products, household activities, heating and air-conditioning systems and combustion processes.
From outside, traffic, industrial activity, pollen, smoke and urban pollution can have an influence, entering the building through ventilation or through the building envelope.
How does it affect the space?
Air quality is the result of the interaction between many factors. It does not depend on one particular pollutant, but on the balance between ventilation, emission sources, environmental conditions and how the building is used.
That is why it is not studied in isolation: it is related to the other physical, chemical and biological factors assessed during the technical inspection.
How is it assessed?
What the inspection looks at
The technical inspection identifies possible sources of pollution and examines the construction characteristics of the building and its ventilation systems.
What is recorded for each measurement
Equipment, quantity, unit, location, date, measurement conditions and duration, together with the relevant limitations and the interpretation criterion applied.
How this factor is measured
Depending on the scope of the assessment, measurements are taken with professional instruments and, where appropriate, specific samples of chemical or biological pollutants are collected.
Results are interpreted together, looking at the overall behaviour of the indoor environment rather than at a single parameter.
In assessments intended as expert evidence, calibrated instruments are used to ensure the reliability and traceability of the measurements.
Criteria
Interpretation is based on internationally recognised methodologies and, for physical factors, on the SBM-2024.
For chemical and biological pollutants, technical references and guidance values applicable to the parameter assessed are taken into account. The assessment always considers the intended use of the building and the characteristics of each room.
This guide does not publish values or thresholds. Technical criteria, legal limits and recommendations are different things and are not presented as equivalent.
Improvement measures
Work always begins by understanding and, where possible, reducing the source, before acting on the path or on the space. Measures are prioritised by expected effect, feasibility and proportionality, and no products are recommended by default.
The action taken depends on the origin of the problems detected. Options that may be considered include:
- Improving ventilation.
- Eliminating or reducing sources of pollution.
- Choosing low-emission materials.
- Maintaining installations.
Recommendations are made after an individual assessment adapted to each building.
How Cemprotecta helps
This factor is not assessed on its own. It is, in fact, the result of how ventilation, the sources present and the use of the building combine, so it only makes sense when read within an assessment that treats the space as a system.
What an assessment gives you is knowing what is there, where it is and what can be done about it, with an ordered sequence of measures rather than a list of problems.
- Inspection of the space and of accessible installations.
- Measurement or sampling in the rooms where people spend most time.
- Combined interpretation with the other factors assessed.
- A report with measures ranked by their expected effect on exposure.
Request an assessment
If this factor concerns you in your home or workplace, tell us about your case. The prior inspection will determine whether it is worth measuring and what else should be assessed alongside it.