Why you might want to consider this half-day workshop.
Unlocking better ventilation and air quality outcomes in housing.
In 2019 the UK Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published a report, “Ventilation and Indoor Air Quality in New Homes.”
The study's results indicated poor indoor air quality in several monitored homes. In all cases, failure to meet indoor air quality indicators corresponded with failure to meet the ADF ventilation recommendations.
The study had some stark outcomes.
Bear in mind these are new homes, volunteered by developers as one would suppose was their best effort.
The study: intended to look at Naturally Ventilated homes but found over 30% had a different system. No one knew!
Naturally-ventilated homes: Only 2 of the 55 homes visited met the guidance in ADF regarding trickle ventilator provision and intermittent extract fan air flow rates.
In particular, only 9 of the homes met the minimum extract fan flow rates. Several fans tested provided less than half the recommended flow rate; this accounted for a quarter of all fans.
Continuous mechanical extract: Only 1 of the 25 homes visited met the guidance published in ADF with respect to both continuous extract fan air flow rates and trickle ventilator provision.
The key reason for this is that, in nearly all cases, the extract fan flow rates were below those recommended. In normal mode (i.e. low rate), whole dwelling extract air flow rates ranging from 85% below to 8% above the recommended flow rate.
Bear in mind these are minimum standards, even if they had met standards, which they didn’t. On first inspection, 40% of the homes had between 0% and 20% of the vents open and in many homes, fans were off.
In a recent study in Scotland conducted as late as 2021 found 80% of the homes in the study had insufficient ventilation rates and nearly 40% had poor air quality.
Across Europe more widely, it is typical to see noncompliance in the region of 40% to 60%, so yes, it really can be that bad.
It's not a lack of design professionals, architects and engineers have had a responsibility to deliver compliant buildings forever.
We have been running competent person schemes, certainly in the UK, for well over a decade.
Ventilation isn't hard, it doesn't leak water, burst into flames or typically cause a building to fall over, and perhaps that's part of the problem. Seen as a poor relation in building safety and priorities. Often the outcomes are chronic and slow to manifest. Resulting in long-term health outcomes and challenges to the building fabric.
Not headline-grabbing outcomes until this winter, that is! But be under no illusion, failure to get ventilation costs.
It often falls between the cracks; better outcomes can come from simple strategies and approaches that change how we view ventilation, air quality and risk.
Unlocking better ventilation and air quality outcomes in housing.
So I have put together a half-day workshop on ventilation and air quality in housing.
This is no-nonsense, plain English, not trying to sell you a product half day about.
Air Quality and why it matters
Ventilation Basics, Types of Systems and where they work and Don’t
Regulations and Rules (for your jurisdiction) but in plain English and the bits you really need
What a good outcome looks like and how to get it.
Indoor air quality monitoring, how it works and why you should care.
Thinking strategically about ventilation.
This is for people managing housing and the fallout when it goes wrong.
Asset managers, Operational Managers, Retrofit Managers and Coordinators and Development teams because this affects you too. Remember the failures above? These were all new homes!
It's a half day, a small team of up to 8 people, interactive morning or afternoon to really get under the skin of ventilation and air quality, with plenty of time for questions and dialogue.
Some of the most significant outcomes can come from the smallest of changes.
Introducing this course at €550 £480 for August and September for a team of up to 8 people. -This could be less than €70 each-