In addition to helping fight the virus, we should keep the environment in mind and keep up with our work to accelerate sustainability efforts and green our workplace. Social distancing practices and changes in our daily routines do not stop us from getting together to learn best practices on greening our workplace. The Green PolyU Awards – Green Office programme, therefore, brought forth its second online webinar in April 2020.
The University’s departmental Green Officers gathered online in a webinar to examine issues around indoor air quality. Generally, most people are aware that indoor air pollution can impact their health. At times when we choose not to move around as frequently as we did in the past, and that we now spend most of our time indoors, we need to stay more alert than before.
As mentioned by the two invited speakers, indoor air quality and productivity of employees are related factors. Healthy air quality directly contributes to their productivity and improves general health. Therefore, preventative steps and effective management strategies should be taken to ensure good indoor air quality.
Some people are looking at and analyzing carbon dioxide emissions, humidity, airflow, and temperature to detect problems with indoor air quality. The speakers reminded the participating Green Officers that ventilation is definitely the factor worthy of our attention. Proper ventilation helps improve indoor air quality and control airborne contaminants. Measures should be drawn to monitor ventilation system operation and ensure the ventilation system is well maintained, across indoor office areas, classrooms, lobby areas, and toilets.
The speakers also remarked on some common indoor air pollutants, which may be the cause of the increased prevalence of respiratory symptoms and allergies. The latest air purification technologies available in the market were also introduced.
