The increasing level of office based activity and the requirement to minimize energy usage is putting greater demands on building Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems and on building owners and managers. Tighter buildings are now being constructed to reduce the infiltration of outside air through building leakage. The amount of fresh air introduced through the air conditioning system is also reduced. In addition, there is now recognition of the health effects associated with passive smoking and the problems associated with off-gassing from carpets and modern synthetic construction materials.

Associated with this has been an increase in the incidence of health complaints and problems reported by building occupants. In response to these problems, various standards, codes of practice and regulations have been developed in Australia to establish procedures for monitoring and maintaining commercial building environments.

Hibbs & Associates Pty Ltd offers a comprehensive building health management service to assist clients to effectively manage the indoor environment and ensure compliance with their legislative obligations. Our aim is to ensure that potential health risks associated with the building environment are suitably managed and comfort criteria optimised. This is achieved by consideration of the three principal aspects affecting air quality and comfort: Air Quality Testing, Building Ventilation Assessment and Cooling Tower Inspection. In addition to investigating air quality problems, we also specialise in proactive air quality management, providing regular inspection and assessment to ensure optimum air quality is maintained and any possible problems detected early.

Building Ventilation Systems

An evaluation of the building's ventilation system is performed taking into consideration location of fresh air intakes in relation to exhausts and sources of pollution, air supply rates, operating schedules, maintenance etc. Critical components of the building ventilation systems and plant are inspected to ensure that design and maintenance programmes conform with the recognised building health services guidelines. Maintenance procedures are reviewed to the requirements of Australian Standard AS3666: Air-handling and Water Systems of Buildings - Microbial Control. The review includes:

Detailed inspection of air conditioning plant and equipment and the water     systems.

Review of the maintenance practices.

Identification of potential health risks.

Inspection of ductwork for contamination and dust accumulation.

Ventilation performance assessments.

Air Quality Testing

State of the art technology and instrumentation is used to measure a broad range of air quality parameters in the building environment. Such key parameters include:

temperature and humidity.

carbon dioxide.

carbon monoxide.

airborne fungi/mould/bacteria.

formaldehyde.

volatile organic compounds (VOC's).

total suspended particulates.

asbestos fibres.

synthetic mineral fibres.

The accurate characterisation of the key indicators of indoor air quality allows informed decisions to be made regarding the building environment and ventilation systems.

Cooling Tower Inspection Service

The objective of this service is to ensure that the cooling towers are maintained and chemically treated in accordance with the requirements of the relevant codes of practice.

Inspection of cooling towers.

Evaluation of the water treatment systems.

Water testing for legionella and total bacteria.

Labelling and storage of chemicals.

For further information regarding indoor air quality services contact:

Dan Le Van on 0419 239 720 or
Michael Fisher on 0418 264 567

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