Indoor Environmental Quality

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that most Americans spend about 90% of their day indoors. The vast majority of those work in an office environment. Studies have shown that Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) can be significantly worse than outside air quality. Poor IAQ is a major concern as it can impact the health, comfort, and productivity of the building occupants. This category focuses on a building's strategies to improve indoor air quality and occupant comfort levels.

• 425 Market St. has developed and implemented an Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) management program based on the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards. The purpose of the IAQ program is to maintain a healthy and comfortable working environment for building tenants. This is achieved through a set of policies and procedures that concentrate on the following: preventative maintenance of the building structures and systems; controlling microbial growth; regulating construction and renovation projects to meet the building Green Construction Policy; and reducing contaminants indoors by using environmentally-friendly products.

Preventative maintenance plays the most vital role in preventing IAQ problems. Preventative maintenance is the routine inspection, adjustments or repairs of the building systems to make certain the systems operate efficiently. Through scheduled maintenance, potential problems are discovered and fixed in a timely manner. In addition, 425 Market Street's environmental consultant, Environova, performs an annual IAQ test of select floors in the building.  This test confirms that the IAQ meets EPA I-BEAM and ASHRAE standards and exceeds the quality of the air outside the building.

• 425 Market St. utilizes filters with a minimum efficiency reporting value (MERV) of 14. MERV 14 filters have an 85% efficiency rate which helps to reduce particulates circulating in the air distribution. The maintenance of these filters is included in the IAQ Best Management Practices program.
• 425 Market St. instituted a green cleaning policy. The policy encourages the use of sustainable products and materials.
  • The building makes every effort to use cleaning products that meet ECOLOGO standards. All products certified to an ECOLOGO standard must meet or exceed each of the listed criteria before receiving the mark. ECOLOGO Certification is classified as an ISO (International Organization for Standardization) Type 1 ecolabel and has been successfully assessed by the Global Ecolabeling Network, further demonstrating its credibility. This set of standards allows buildings to make responsible choices in our purchases that are environmentally friendly.
  • The building also uses green cleaning equipment like microfiber mops and cloths and high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters in vacuums. Microfiber materials have electrostatic properties that give them high dust-attracting power that is helpful in effectively removing dust particulates. The use of HEPA filters in vacuums improves the indoor air quality of the building. HEPA filters remove at least 99.97% of airborne particles that are 0.3 micrometers in diameter.