Proper maintenance of a facility helps to ensure that the employees, customers, residents, patients, etc. stay healthy and secure while inside the premises. One of the essential ways a facility can attain its goals while safeguarding the health of occupants is by promoting optimal indoor air quality (IAQ).
To control the spread of respiratory diseases, curb odor, and enhance the general IAQ, building managers should take ventilation as an integral part of facility maintenance. Enforcing regular deep cleaning of the air conditioning (A/C) system is the best way to curb the challenges associated with poor indoor air quality.
It is vital for facility managers to be aware of how these processes function and when to carry them out to decrease the negative impact of low IAQ on facility occupants.
Health and Indoor Air Quality
The design and regular maintenance of facilities are integral to protecting the health of the inhabitants. Poor IAQ and questionable ventilation have been proven to lead to immediate health effects such as irritation of eyes, nose, and throat, dizziness, fatigue, and headaches. Although some symptoms are treatable and last for just a short while, others might show up several years later or after extended periods of exposure.
Long-term health effects including some respiratory illnesses, cancer and cardiovascular disease can be extremely debilitating or lead to deaths. Even if symptoms do not present themselves straight away, proactively trying to provide exceptional indoor air can be useful in lowering such risks.
Research also shows that poor IAQ in facilities can reduce productivity, plus cause visitors to display dissatisfaction. Performance losses resulting from low IAQ for facilities are estimated to be 2-4% on average.
Likewise, unpleasant smells and physical symptoms such as coughing and sneezing can cause discomfort but are easily preventable. Clean air promotes the health of facility occupants, thus helping employees to do their work at their best.
Managers of facilities must understand the possible causes of reduced air quality and possess the resources required to identify and curb those hazards. Other than carrying out facility walkthroughs to recognize any foul smells, temperature changes or asbestos signs, facility managers need to inspect the building’s A/C unit regularly.
Advantages of Deep Cleaning
Facility supervisors must schedule regular A/C unit deep cleanings because a majority of managers tend to clean some components of a system like the base pan and the coil more times than the whole system. Deep cleanings are crucial for ensuring the entire system is free of contaminants and working at peak efficiency.
Deep cleaning the Air Conditioning unit provides many benefits, such as:
- Enhanced IAQ: Clean air filters with clean coils can decrease allergens, harmful particles, and other debris in the air effectively. It also leads to improved air flow to maintain maximum comfort for people occupying the facility.
- Reduced odors: When left unchecked, it’s easy for odors to overtake a building’s ambiance and cause significant discomfort for occupants. By deep cleaning an air conditioning unit and sanitizing it too, facility supervisors can terminate odor-causing bacteria and mold.
- Lowered energy consumption: In commercial facilities, most of the energy is taken up by the lighting and HVAC systems. Units that are cleaned thoroughly and regularly effectively transfer air much faster, lowering the amount of energy consumed.
- The prolonged life expectancy of the unit: A/C systems are costly to replace and failing to care for them can result in heightened expenses. Deep cleaning will help to maximize the unit’s life expectancy to decrease long-term expenditures.
If you are a facility manager looking to improve indoor air quality in your building, you should contact CK Control Temp today. We provide expert HVAC maintenance services.