Remerciez-le!

Remerciez @Admin pour avoir partagé cet document gratuitement, de la manière la plus simple, en partageant sur les réseaux sociaux.

Guide to the Management of Indoor Air Quality for Hotels in Hong Kong Page 1 Fo

Guide to the Management of Indoor Air Quality for Hotels in Hong Kong Page 1 Forward… Hotel buildings… A hotel building is many things; a place of work, a home away from home, a place of recreation and entertainment, etc. Internal spaces include basement work areas, corridors, restaurants, kitchens, guestrooms, meeting rooms, ballrooms, etc. Hotel guests and employees spend a substantial amount of their time inside the hotel. Guests may occupy these for relatively long periods, such as their rooms, or for very short periods, such as lobbies and corridors. Employee work shifts may cover many parts of the back-of-the-house areas, on confined to one area for periods of up to twelve hours. Indoor environments … The indoor environment may be characterised by thermal comfort (temperature and relative humidity), lighting, noise and vibration, and indoor air quality (freshness and absence of pollutants). Indoor environmental quality… The quality of the indoor environment has an impact on guest comfort, and their perception of quality, and on worker productivity. Poor indoor environments detract from caring image and quality of the lodgings. Building performance… An efficient hotel building is one in which the ‘services’ provided to guests are maintained at a level of quality appropriate the standard of the hotel, whilst at the same time the resources consumed are minimised. Guide to the Management of Indoor Air Quality for Hotels in Hong Kong Page 2 Indoor air quality… In terms of indoor air quality, it would not be good management practice to try and save resources if the indoor air quality suffers as a consequence. Good IAQ depends on an adequate supply of fresh air, absence of polluting sources, and good distribution to the breathing zone of the occupied spaces. Perceptions of poor air quality… Other environmental factors, such as thermal comfort, noise and lighting may give occupants a sense that indoor air quality is poor. Even the best designed air- conditioning and ventilation system targets at providing thermal comfort conditions which satisfy around 80% of occupants, so a large percentage may be dissatisfied even when optimum conditions (for the majority) exist. Impacts of poor indoor environments… The impacts of a poor indoor environment may be regarded at three levels: • discomfort, such as being too cold, suffering from lighting glare, noise, objectionable odours, etc; • health impacts such as nasal irritations, eye irritations, colds, etc., which may lead to absenteeism; and • health risks, such as from radon, legionella bacteria, asbestos. The key message for management is not to ignore the issue, not to be afraid of dealing with problems, rather to be positive about managing the situation! This Guide… This Guide is based on the extensive experience of the authors and their colleagues in dealing with IAQ problems in buildings in Hong Kong. Many consultants can undertake surveys and measurements of air quality. This Guide seeks to enable hotel managers to understand the key issues, to appreciate how and where problems can arise, and to understand how to deal with the situation in their hotel. In many cases problems with respect to indoor air quality are isolated to a few areas, or are not severe enough to effect health. Authors… Dr. Daniel W T Chan Prof. John Burnett With assistance from Horace Mui, Thomas Tung, Julian Chan. Front cover graphics by Dominic Leung. Guide to the Management of Indoor Air Quality for Hotels in Hong Kong Page 3 Efficiency… Use your senses! Walkthrough surveys can tell you from sights and smells if there are obvious problems. The first level of action is to remove the obvious problems. Water, stains, persistent complaints, etc, will point towards obvious problem areas. Second, do some basic measurements to establish the seriousness of the situation, e.g. measurements of CO2 to indicate lack of fresh air. If problems persist, investigate further with the aid of an engineer familiar with the measurement protocols, engineering system design, materials use, etc. Measurement of pollutants is necessary in some situations, but the sophistication of the measurement protocol depends on the level of perceived annoyance, discomfort or health risk. It is generally acceptable to find out if the level for a single pollutant is below the air quality objective, rather than to measure the level with precision. Guide to the Management of Indoor Air Quality for Hotels in Hong Kong Page 4 Managing Indoor Air Quality in Hotels… Government initiatives… The Indoor Air Quality Management Group of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region released the second draft of it’s Guidance Notes and a Consultation Paper for the Management of Indoor Air Quality in Offices and Public Places in October 1999. These documents specify the objectives of indoor air quality (IAQ) deemed to be achieved in public buildings. Although this requirement is voluntarily, it is the intention of the EPD to regulate acceptable IAQ following a review of the extent of voluntary compliance. There is likely to be social pressure for quality hotels to meet the highest level criterion! The management of indoor air quality in hotels should be taken seriously for two strategic reasons: • Firstly, there is no reason why hotels can be exempted from regulatory control of the IAQ. • Secondly, quality buildings are likely to expected to meet the most stringent Level 1 requirements of the Guidance Notes through a certification procedure administered by EPD. Should Hong Kong adopt criteria for the responsibility for health and safety similar to those of other developed countries, hotel management will come under greater pressure to act positively. Under the UK’s Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, it is the employer “to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employee”. Also, “to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not exposed to risks to their health or safety.” Under the same act, an employee (or building occupant) can held liable unless he “takes reasonable care for the health and safety of himself and of other persons who may be affected by his acts or omissions at work.” Education of both the employers and employees are equally important. Ailments arising from adverse IAQ are difficult to identify. However, Hong Kong had its first case in 1998 when a former musician in the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra was awarded HK$20 million for brain damages caused by over exposure to pesticide in indoor air during rehearsals. The five defendants were found guilty in the Supreme Court and were held liable for the legal fee of HK$200 million! Guide to the Management of Indoor Air Quality for Hotels in Hong Kong Page 5 The ‘Sick Building Syndrome’… The oil embargo in 1973 triggered an energy crisis. Designers were under pressure to conserve energy in all building services systems. Engineers at that time made the mistake of cutting too many corners. Recommended fresh air quantities were reduced, indoor air temperatures set higher in summer and lower in winter, lighting levels were reduced, etc. This resulted in a large number of complaints and ailments reported in air-conditioned indoor spaces. The ailments were mostly respiratory and neurological disorders without serious physical consequences. These ailments were collectively described as ‘Sick Building Syndrome (SBS)’ by the World Health Organization early in 1980. Unacceptable IEQ… While SBS can be a complicated issue, many of the causes are related to unacceptable indoor environmental quality (IEQ). IEQ can generally be described by the four indoor environmental qualifiers, that is: • indoor air quality comfort; • thermal comfort; • visual comfort; and • aural comfort. Indoor air quality distinguishes itself from the other three qualifiers for the following reasons: • causal factors are numerous and cross disciplinary; • substances found potentially harmful to health indoors are numbered in thousands and sometimes invisible when that substance is colourless and odourless (e.g. carbon monoxide, radon); • poor IAQ not only affects comfort and health, it can maim or even kill in extreme cases; • generally difficult to qualify and much more difficult to quantify; and • there are precedence of legal liability. Figure 1 shows that IAQ stands out with high percentage of dissatisfaction. However, in the current practice in building services system design, over 90% of the initial and running cost is spent on keeping the space thermally acceptable. In any energy conservation programme, fresh air quantity is often the first item which is cut back. As the general public becomes better educated on importance of good air quality inside premises, good air quality will be a selling point in the new millennium. Guide to the Management of Indoor Air Quality for Hotels in Hong Kong Page 6 IEQ Qualifiers… Survey by BSE Department, Hong Kong Polytechnic University (1992-1994) 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 IAQ Thermal Viual Aural IEQ Qualifiers Percentage of Dissatisfaction Figure 1. Typical Distribution of Percentage of Dissatisfaction of the Four Fundamental IEQ Qualifiers, Survey done on 17 offices. Indoor air quality objectives… Today, there uploads/Management/ iaq-guide.pdf