indoor air quality

Disputes and claims involving indoor air quality can involve design, construction and maintenance. Depending on the situation, the failure of the indoor air quality may be a combination of all three of these issues.

Occasionally the cause of poor indoor air quality may be the result of a failure of a building envelope system and not the systems used to maintain the indoor air quality. For example: a flat roof leaks and wets the backside of the ceiling tile which is part of a return air plenum and the mold spores are distributed throughout the air handling unit zone.

An investigation of poor indoor air quality by JPC experts will involve:

• Assess the individual systems that control the environment.
• Assess the envelope for concealed sources of contamination.
• Assess the outdoor air versus exhaust air differential.
• Evaluate the integrity of the building envelope to control entry of outdoor contaminant.
• Evaluate return plenums and the air intrusion aspects of the roof and/or exterior wall assembly.
• Subject to the preceding, testing the environment for organisms and/or gases that may be impacting the indoor air quality may be undertaken.