What is IEQ?

Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) refers to all environmental factors that affect the health and wellbeing of building occupants. IEQ includes such factors as indoor air quality (IAQ), comfort, humidity, air exchange, acoustics, and lighting quality. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, studies from the U.S. and Europe indicate that we spend more than 90% of our time indoors—which makes the quality of that environment important to our health and productivity.

What are VOCs?

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are organic chemicals emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids. High in pollutants, VOCs include thousands of synthetic and natural chemicals emitted by a wide array of products, building materials, and microorganisms. VOCS can be emitted in the manufacturing process, although this does not necessarily mean that VOCs are still emitted during or after construction. While products may contain VOCs in the manufacturing process, product aging typically reduces the amount of VOC emissions.

What materials can contain VOCs?

Commonly used materials such as paints, lacquers, cleaning supplies, printers, furnishings, carpeting, disinfectants, air fresheners, pesticides, adhesives, permanent markers, carbonless copy paper and building materials such as some ceiling panels can all contains VOCs.

Why are VOCs undesirable?

VOCs can cause numerous health effects in sensitive individuals, including eye, nose and throat irritation, headaches, allergic skin reactions, fatigue, dizziness, loss of coordination, nausea, and damage to the liver, kidneys and central nervous system. The effect depends on many factors, including level of exposure and length of time exposed.

Formaldehyde can cause extreme discomfort and adverse reactions— watery eyes, burning sensations in the eyes and throat, nausea, asthma attacks, wheezing, coughing, fatigue, skin rash, and severe allergic reactions.

It has been classified as a human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and as a probable human carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It is "reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen" by the National Toxicology Program of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Why is it important for ceiling panels to emit zero or low formaldehyde?

According to the U.S. EPA, the most effective and cost-effective way to improve indoor air quality is to eliminate sources of pollution or reduce their emissions. Increasing ventilation, while it may ultimately improve indoor air quality, can also increase energy cost.

What is embodied energy?

The concept of embodied energy is an attempt to measure the true energy cost of a material. Embodied energy includes the energy required to extract, manufacture and transport materials. This is an incentive to use local materials, because the distance that the material is transported is part of the embodied energy equation. Therefore, a recycled product may actually contain a higher embodied energy “cost” than a product made of virgin materials, once the energy involved in transportation is considered. In terms of embodied energy, it may be more cost-effective to use recycled material manufactured close to the building site than to use a recycled material that must be transported from far away.

What is a life-cycle assessment (LCA)?

LCA assesses the environmental impact of a product by taking into account raw material acquisition, materials manufacture, production, use/reuse/maintenance, and waste management. This cradle-to-grave (or cradle-to-cradle) assessment, from extraction of raw materials to final disposal of these materials as waste (or re-use), provides a more in-depth appraisal of a product.

Why should I consider LCA instead of just recycled content?

Recycled content addresses only one small aspect of the energy resources associated with a product, while LCA provides a much more complete view of the energy cost of the product over its entire life cycle.

Why is light reflectance a sustainability issue?

Ceiling panels with high light reflectance can enhance indirect lighting, reducing the number of light fixtures needed and thus lowering energy consumption. Measured in accordance with ASTM E14771, LR value represents the percentage of light reflected from the surface of a material. The industry average for panels is LR .70 to .80, and values above LR .85 are considered high. High LR ceilings can help conserve energy and cut operating costs by achieving the same light levels with fewer fixtures and lower-wattage bulbs.

What is daylighting?

Daylighting is the practice of using natural light to illuminate buildings. Daylighting techniques can be adapted to meet the needs of almost any building. Done properly, daylighting can cut lighting and energy costs and improve productivity.