Nov 24, 2023

The World Health Organisation (WHO) states that exposure to poor indoor air quality (IAQ) is directly linked to 3.8 million premature deaths worldwide every year. This worrying statistic sits at the heart of World Ventil8 Day (WV8D), an annual event taking place on 8th November, aiming to raise awareness of the importance of ventilation as a crucial part of enabling the health and wellbeing of people. This year’s theme of "Breathe Better, Live Better; World Ventil8 Day," highlights ventilation's role in healthy buildings and a healthy life. With ventilation and clean air often overlooked and poorly understood in buildings, the awareness day also recognises and celebrates the work of the ventilation and indoor air quality community.

Co-ordinated by the UK’s Building Engineering Services Association (BESA), World Ventil8 Day aims to help people improve ventilation and clean air in their buildings whether it be a home, a school, a work place or a social space. Drawing a direct link between failure to invest in improving ventilation and serious health problems linked to buildings, the awareness day is supported by a wide range of professional and trade bodies, universities, and environmental groups worldwide. 

Eurovent association has become an Industry Partner this year, with the whole Eurovent family including Eurovent Certita Certification and Eurovent Market Intelligence backing the initiative. Eurovent association has long been a champion of Indoor Air Quality, creating the #IAQmatters campaign with Eurovent Middle East, as a joint initiative of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) manufacturers in Europe and the Middle East, providing solutions to ensure a healthy indoor climate.

Last year’s inaugural WV8D saw webinars, in-person talks, new research, and a range of ventilation experiments carried out on the day demonstrating how good ventilation can reduce exposure to air pollutants and infectious diseases, aid human productivity, improve sleep, and reduce mould and damp in buildings.

This year’s theme of ‘Breathe Better, Live Better’ demonstrates how improving ventilation systems and raising awareness can address growing alarm over premature deaths linked to IAQ, mould and damp in homes, and other sources of indoor pollutants including cigarette smoke and traffic emissions. From battling mould and damp in social housing, to ensuring we all have the access to clean air at work, rest and play, WV8D shines a light on the legislation required to improve IAQ. 

Central to WV8D is recognising the role played by ventilation companies and engineers who implement the measures and strategies used to make buildings healthier and safer. The day highlights the need for training and recruiting more skilled people to take on this growing global task. It also shows how good ventilation is part of creating a sustainable and low carbon environment, by using technology well to balance air quality, energy use and comfort.

World Ventil8 Day links

Want to get involved, educate yourself on ventilation and IAQ, or make good choices when it comes to selecting ventilation products? The following links are for you…

World Ventil8 Day website

The WV8D website includes a range of free resources including ‘top facts’ about the role of ventilation, and different methods that can be adapted depending on the age, design, location, and purpose of the building. It also explains how building operators can manage the complex trade-off between ventilation, energy consumption, climate change, urban pollution, noise, comfort, and security. 

Visit the World Ventil8 Day website now. 

#IAQmatters website

Find out why IAQ matters and access a range of information on the subject including insights into IAQ by various Indoor Air Quality experts from around the globe. The website provides solutions to combatting poor IAQ, ways to get involved in the campaign, information on educational opportunities, product certification and free resources to help raise awareness. 

Visit the #IAQmatters website now.

Eurovent certified product directory

Product certification is a vital ingredient for ensuring ventilation products are fit for purpose, reliable and energy efficient. Eurovent Certified Performance programmes provide an effective and independent comparison of product performances - not only in terms of energy efficiency, but also indoor air quality - to help specifiers, project planners, building owners, authorities and the like to ensure an efficient supply of fresh, well-filtered air for their buildings. Ventilation programmes that impact IAQ include:

• Ventilation Ducts (DUCT) 
• Hygienic air handling units (HAHU) 
• Residential Air Handling Units (RAHU) 
• Air to Air Regenerative Heat Exchangers (AARE)
• Air to Air Plate Heat Exchangers (AAHE)
• Air Filters (FIL)
• Residential Air Filters (RFIL)
• Air Cleaners (ACL)
• Fans (FANS)
• Indoor Air Quality and Energy Efficiency (IAQVS)

 Visit the certified product directory now.