INDOOR AIR QUALITY (Monitoring)

INDOOR AIR QUALITY

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(Monitoring): **

31.

Dr Teo Ho Pin asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (a) what measures are taken to ensure that outdoor air pollution will not affect indoor air quality; and (b) whether the quality of indoor air in airconditioned public buildings is monitored regularly to ensure public safety and health.

Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Natural air exchange occurs between a building and the ambient outdoor environment even when the doors and windows are closed. The best way to ensure that outdoor air pollution does not affect indoor air quality is to ensure that the ambient outdoor air quality remains good at all times.

To this end, NEA has implemented a comprehensive air pollution control programme to reduce air pollution from industries and vehicles. This programme has ensured that

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Singapore's ambient outdoor air quality remains within international standards such as those set by the World Health Organisation and the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Notwithstanding our good ambient air quality, transboundary smoke haze can cause elevated air pollutant levels. For such exceptional instances, the effect on indoor air quality can be mitigated by installing air-cleaning devices at the fresh air intake point of the air-conditioning system to remove the air pollutants. Such devices include filters, electrostatic precipitators and absorbents which are readily available in the market.

NEA plays an advisory role in indoor air quality of various built environment. We provide advice in response to public feedback on poor indoor air quality. The feedback over the last five years relating to poor indoor air quality in Singapore include thermal discomfort (30%); smells from food, tobacco, fungi and renovation fumes (21%); faulty air-conditioning systems (17%); and poor housekeeping of air handling units (16%). NEA also carries out surveys to determine the level of air quality in public places where people congregate. Examples include MRT stations, office buildings, air-conditioned food courts and shopping centres. The public feedback and NEA surveys show that many of the causes of poor indoor air quality are linked to factors like the choice of building materials, proper design and maintenance of building air ventilation system, rather than outdoor air quality.

To help building managers, NEA has a set of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Guidelines for Office Buildings, which the building managers use as a technical reference for achieving and maintaining good indoor air quality in their buildings. To expand the scope of the Guidelines to cover more building types such as schools and shopping centres, MOM, SPRING Singapore, NUS and NEA are currently working closely with the industry to develop a Singapore Standard Code of Practice on Indoor Air Quality.

The new Singapore Standard will be more comprehensive and it will provide a better guide to property developers and building managements on measures needed to maintain good indoor air quality.

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