What is adequate office ventilation?
Adequate office ventilation comes in two primary forms – natural or controlled.
- Natural – Natural office ventilation is like an open window, door, or skylights, usually in multiple locations. This enables the air to flow through the office space.
- Controlled – Controlled office ventilation is something like an air conditioning system or electric fans. They move the air around the office space in different ways, and some systems also impact the office’s temperature at the same time.
Natural ventilation, or some degree of controlled ventilation, is more than enough for a standard office.
More advanced ventilation, like Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV), is usually something you would use in a manufacturing scenario where debris and dust, fumes, and vapor are produced through the work environment. Therefore they require removal through an extraction system.
Why ventilate your office?
As a general rule, a well-ventilated office is a friendly environment to work in, enabling employees to enjoy fresh, clean air and a healthy, hygienic working environment.
There are also multiple additional reasons that fresh air is essential for an office, including:
- Oxygen – Provide plenty of fresh air for people in the space to breathe & remove carbon dioxide produced by people in the space breathing.
- Temperature – To reduce heat in summer and help control heat in winter in combination with indoor heating systems.
- Odor – To remove and reduce unpleasant smells.
- Condensation Reduction – To allow moisture in the office to escape, helping to reduce the risk of condensation turning into mold and dampness, which is a health risk for employees.
Without enough fresh air, employees may struggle with health issues related to lack of ventilation, such as dry skin or tiredness. In the worst-case scenarios, long-term health issues can occur or worsen in those with pre-existing conditions such as asthma. In combination with other building issues, employees may even be victims of Sick Building Syndrome.
Lastly, Covid-19 prevention continues to be an excellent reason to ventilate any indoor space. This is particularly true in an office, where it has already been proven in studies that after one person contaminates an office area with virus; it can spread to up to 60% of the office in just 2-4 hours. The impact of this is then felt by employees who get unwell, who need time off work sick, and by the company who may at the very least suffer from staffing issues and overall lowered productivity.
Covid-19 prevention in an office also includes utilizing professional Covid-19 cleaning services, encouraging honest reporting of symptoms and tests, and providing plenty of helpful signage and hand hygiene stations/ facilities.
How to ventilate your office in London?
You can improve the cleanliness and hygiene of your office in London by utilizing regular professional cleaning services that can reduce the amount of dust, dirt, and debris there is present in the space. Cross ventilation is vital further to improve the hygiene and healthiness of that space. Opening several doors and windows while ensuring that droughts do not impact workstations.
It is also vital to ensure that air traveling through the office is of high quality and not contaminated by smoke, fumes, or odors. This may require tactical window opening where this isn’t an issue and using sites like London Air to monitor pollution levels near you using their handy map.
If the air is not of the right quality, you may need to look into ventilation systems that can adequately move clean air through the workspace. These systems require professional cleaning and maintenance regularly to ensure that they continue to work well and keep the air in your office up to standard.
Clean office air will boost your London office
Maintaining a healthy, clean, and pleasant environment for your employees, customers, and clients can only benefit them and the way your brand operates overall.
Open those windows today and instantly boost your business!
If you can follow the above-given steps and methods properly, then it would be easy and effective to maintain ventilation in your office in London.
