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IAQ Monitors Help Create Healthy Indoor Environments





By James Piper, P.E.  
OTHER PARTS OF THIS ARTICLEPt. 1: This PagePt. 2: Temperature Monitors and Thermal Imagers Identify Hot SpotsPt. 3: Portable Equipment Detects Power Sags and SpikesPt. 4: Test Equipment Helps Develop Preventive Maintenance Programs


Maintenance and engineering managers understandably devote time and energy to ensuring the performance of key pieces of technology, especially computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS). More often these days, managers are paying more attention to diagnostic and monitoring technology. Technicians use these tools to gather the essential data that builds the CMMS database managers use to make important decisions. A new generation of diagnostic and monitoring technology is helping managers make better decisions on a range of issues, especially energy management and indoor air quality.

IAQ Monitors

Increased demands for indoor air quality (IAQ) have resulted in the need for technicians to more closely monitor and document conditions in buildings. While centralized automation systems can monitor overall conditions in a building, most IAQ problems are localized. Detecting and addressing these problems requires the use of monitoring equipment.

The latest generation of portable IAQ monitors allows technicians to measure carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, relative humidity and temperature. They also can record particle counts, measure volatile organic compounds, determine airflow, and measure differential pressure. Technicians can collect data and read it from the unit or upload it to a laptop computer for analysis.




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  posted on 12/1/2008   Article Use Policy




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