| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 83.26 |
| Liaison | Megan Litke |
| Submission Date | Feb. 12, 2014 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
American University
OP-3: Indoor Air Quality
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 2.00 |
Emily
Curley Sustainability Coordinator Sustainability |
Occupied building space covered by an indoor air quality plan, policy, and/or practices that include regular auditing or monitoring and a mechanism for occupants to register complaints :
Total occupied building space :
A brief description of the institution's indoor air quality plan, policy, and/or practices:
Indoor air quality is managed via four complementary systems:
1) Energy Management System
Four full time staff manage the university’s Siemens Apogee energy management system (EMS), which monitors campus HVAC systems, including certain air quality components such as CO sensors, CO2 sensors, and humidity sensors. The EMS is designed to control indoor air quality as well as trigger staff response when the system detects air quality indicators beyond pre-set allowable ranges. The system is monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
2) Occupant Feedback
“2FIX” is the campus-wide customer feedback system for facilities-related inquiries and complaints. Building occupants use this system, which includes a phone hotline and email address (202.885.2FIX and 2FIX@american.edu), to provide feedback on indoor air quality. Calls and emails to 2FIX produce work tickets for response by professional facilities staff people. If/when facilities staff are unable to resolve an indoor air quality complaint, it is referred to Risk Management for additional inquiry and action.
3) Staff Observation
Facilities staff are trained to observe and act to prevent and/or re-mediate sources of potential impacts on indoor air quality, such as observing vehicle fumes penetrating a building, visible mold growth, and other such indicators of potential air contamination.
4) The Green Cleaning Program
Minimizes the amount of dirt entering buildings by using entryway mats, thereby avoiding overuse of cleaning chemicals. It trains staff on safe chemical handling and cleaning practices in order to avoid exposing them to chemicals. We also use Green Seal-certified cleaners and equipment that are verified against a rigorous, nationally recognized standard for identifying greener cleaning supplies. Additionally the 25 existing buildings undergoing LEED certification are required to comply with LEED EBOM prerequisites for indoor air quality.
The website URL where information about the institution's indoor air quality initiatives is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.