GREEN BUSINESS VIEWS

Posts Tagged ‘indoor air quality’

There are good reasons to considered a Green business certification and installing a sustainability officer.  People think they’re healthier and more productive after moving their office space into “green” buildings, according to a recent study published on the American Journal of Public Health’s website.  This is according to a USA Today article taken from Associated Press.  There is more than perception involved in this equation because we know that poor indoor air quality is part of good health and good productivity.  Everyone has felt the afternoon dip in energy, the nagging headache, or even sleepiness that comes without good cause.

The same article says, “The authors estimated a small benefit to employees suffering from asthma and respiratory allergies. Those people would gain 1.75 more work hours per year working in the new building because they would take less sick time.  The biggest boost comes in perceived productivity.  The study’s authors extrapolated that employees could each work about 39 more hours a year in the new building because of different working conditions such as better light, air quality and ventilation.”

This is not only from possible outgassing from building components and furniture in the office.  Bad air is the byproduct of the cleaning service, pesticide use, poor ventilation, pollution infiltration, and the daily wear and tear of every business.

However, getting an building or office on the path to improvement does not come from casual concern.  One of the notable efforts to the sustainability officer is to address the IAQ along with the many issues of making a company Green.  In a holistic approach to environmental improvement, IAQ, energy reduction, water and waste management, lighting, supply chain, and numerous other issues are brought into the planning.  The air quality is a factor, but so is the quality of the lighting.  We have not yet touched on the carbon footprint issue or Green IT.

To solve these issues before the government start clamping down on compliance, more and more Fortune 500 companies are developing Certified Sustainability Officers (CSO) and getting them into a good training program.  The best training program for any level sustainability officer is found at http://www.CertifiedSustainabilityOfficer.com or http://www.CorporateSustainabilityOfficer.com.

One of the worst feelings in the world is the day a civil lawsuit lands at the doorstep of a business.  Like the diagnosis of cancer, everything is thereafter controlled by the pending threat that embroils every part of our life.   A lawsuit is never kind, and it is almost never a fair presentation of the facts.  It is filled with accusations, horrendous claims, and what seems to be intentionally one-sided lies.   Of course, the is the final section where the “Relief” that is sought from the court is so immense as to be heart stopping.  Reading a lawsuit feels like hearing about a deadly diagnosis from a hateful doctor who hopes that you’ll die a particularly painful death.

With this in mind, it should be no surprise that there is now more attorneys studying environmental law than every before in history.  Like tremors before an earthquake, it should come as no surprise that we are seeing a serious rise in environmental lawsuits and an expected surge of new environmental regulations.   Ready or not, we are about to see the enforcement of environmental laws like never before.  For this reason, Going Green is a proactive aspect that should not be ignored.  Businesses are deemed to have deep pockets, and that makes them excellent targets for litigation.  If a business would like to keep the profits that they have struggled to make over the years, it must take positive steps to reduce and eliminate potential liability issues.

Indoor Air Quality is one of those blindsided type issues that most people will never see coming until it hits them hard from behind.   Remember that people spend 90% of their time indoors according to the EPA.   This is day after day and year after year.   Over a 40 year working career, employees have endured prolonged exposure to the recycled air that frankly seems like an invisible, toxic cloud that they cannot escape.   This exposure to poor indoor air quality is yet another liability to the company.

Over the years, doctors have linked more and more chronic diseases to exposure to chemicals in the air.   I am sure that you remember the battle over “second-hand smoke.”  Evidence was clear that non-smokers had impressively higher occurrence of lung cancer when exposed to second-hand smoke in the workplace.  This can by way of civil litigation.  Asbestos was yet another ingredient that caused lung disease proven in courts time and again.   You can find other dangerous ingredients in the workplace as well.  There is benzene, formaldehyde, pesticides, cleaning chemicals containing volatile organic compounds, and bad levels of carbon dioxide to name only a few of the bad things found in most businesses.

That “New Smell” of fresh paint, new furniture, glue from the carpet, as well as stains and varnish are not good at all.  they are often volatile organic compounds that will make you ill or dizzy with overexposure.  When you walk into a room cleaned by bleach, do you think that it smell clean and sanitary?  You should also know that it is bad for you.  If you doubt me, try taking a strong whiff our of a bleach bottle.  It will be a rough experience.  Ammonia is not different, but we typically see these cleaning products as healthy when they are actually harmful to us.  The danger is lost in the fact that they are used in diluted and small quantities.  Try eating just a very small quantity of arsenic over a period of time and you will kill yourself.

One of the very real benefits of Going Green is the provision of a healthy workplace and the mitigation of a lawsuit arising from an employee made sick at the workplace.  A six month check up by an IAQ specialist is one of the best ways create a paper trail of a health office.   Earning your Green Business Certification may be the prime motivator for improving the office.   Going Green will often provide substantial savings in the budget.  It will likely improve the overall performance of worker and well as their health.  One of the other important benefits to the positive defense when an environmental lawsuit comes your way.