Firehouse Is First To Earn UL’s IAQ Certification

A fire station in Cary, North Carolina, is the first firehouse to achieve a UL Verified Healthy Building Mark for Indoor Air. The certification demonstrates that Cary’s Fire Station No. 4 has indoor spaces that promote healthy indoor air quality (IAQ). Achieving the verification shows a commitment by town leadership to create and maintain indoor environments that support firefighters and related administrative staff health. 

To achieve the certification, spaces inside Cary’s Fire Station No. 4 underwent on-site visits — comprehensive data and science-based reviews that included UL visual inspection and IAQ performance testing to evaluate a range of building conditions. The program includes ongoing annual comprehensive assessments to maintain the mark.  

The IAQ testing requirements verify that Cary’s Fire Station No. 4 meets criteria aligned with industry-recognized, third-party organizations, such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), World Health Organization (WHO) and American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). All laboratory testing and analysis methodologies are informed by the EPA Compendium of Methods, and ASTM D5197 and TO-17 for air sampling. 

“The health and well-being of first responders who live and work in fire stations remain critically important,” says Sean McCrady, director of asset and sustainability performance for real estate properties at UL. “These environments are unlike traditional workplaces, where pollution control strategies can be crucial to the management and optimization of air quality, both because of the time spent in the building and hazardous pollutants involved in the industry. Monitoring key indoor air quality factors are essential to understanding exposures and promoting the well-being and productivity of the first responders,” McCrady says.

Dan Hounsell is senior editor, facility group.

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