Air Quality Matters

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Part 2 - Nathan Wood - MD, Farmwood

Chairman of the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) Indoor Air Quality Group and  Chair of the GCP Europe Indoor Air Quality Task Force.

Nathan is a straight-talking, no-nonsense practitioner providing ventilation and air quality services in the south-east of England across both residential and non-residential buildings The Farmwood team and in particular, Nathan, have a laser focus on quality outcomes and are not afraid to highlight the gaps we often see in our sector.

Much of what we talk about on this podcast, Nathan and his team are at the coal face implemented day in and day out.

He is also a prolific ambassador for the sector, not least through his roles in BESA, the indoor air quality group, and GCP Europe.

I always enjoy talking to Nathan; his enthusiasm for what he does, doing it right, and the legacy this work leaves for his customers, but also the pride he takes in his staff is infectious.

We talked about the gaps we see in performance out there and, how the sector needs to upskill his personal journey into the world of air quality and his passion for skills and apprenticeships.

Farmwood - https://farmwood.co.uk/
BESA - https://www.thebesa.com/
BESA Air Quality - https://www.thebesa.com/besa-focus-areas/indoor-air-quality
GCP Europe - https://gcpeurope.eu/
Ella Roberta Foundation - https://www.ellaroberta.org/about-ella

Support the show

Check out the Air Quality Matters website for more information, updates and more. And the YouTube Channel

The Air Quality Matters Podcast is brought to you in partnership with.

Eurovent Farmwood Aereco Aico Ultra Protect Zehnder Group

The One Take Podcast is brought to you in partnership with.

SafeTraces & InBiot

All great companies that share the podcast's passion for better air quality in the built environment. Supporting them helps support the show.

Send us a text

Nathan Wood - MD, Farmwood

Chairman of the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) Indoor Air Quality Group and  Chair of the GCP Europe Indoor Air Quality Task Force.

Nathan is a straight-talking, no-nonsense practitioner providing ventilation and air quality services in the south-east of England across both residential and non-residential buildings The Farmwood team and in particular, Nathan, have a laser focus on quality outcomes and are not afraid to highlight the gaps we often see in our sector.

Much of what we talk about on this podcast, Nathan and his team are at the coal face implemented day in and day out.

He is also a prolific ambassador for the sector, not least through his roles in BESA, the indoor air quality group, and GCP Europe.

I always enjoy talking to Nathan; his enthusiasm for what he does, doing it right, and the legacy this work leaves for his customers, but also the pride he takes in his staff is infectious.

We talked about the gaps we see in performance out there and, how the sector needs to upskill his personal journey into the world of air quality and his passion for skills and apprenticeships.

Farmwood - https://farmwood.co.uk/
BESA - https://www.thebesa.com/
BESA Air Quality - https://www.thebesa.com/besa-focus-areas/indoor-air-quality
GCP Europe - https://gcpeurope.eu/
Ella Roberta Foundation - https://www.ellaroberta.org/about-ella

Support the show

Check out the Air Quality Matters website for more information, updates and more. And the YouTube Channel

The Air Quality Matters Podcast is brought to you in partnership with.

Eurovent Farmwood Aereco Aico Ultra Protect Zehnder Group

The One Take Podcast is brought to you in partnership with.

SafeTraces & InBiot

All great companies that share the podcast's passion for better air quality in the built environment. Supporting them helps support the show.

Send us a text

Ben Jones - Associate Professor at the University of Nottingham in the Department of Architecture and Built Environment.

With a  Master's Degree in Aeronautical Engineering, he worked as a Senior Software Engineer at BAE Systems before completing an Engineering Doctorate in Environmental Technologies at Brunel.

He was a Research Associate at University College London for two years before taking the post in Nottingham in 2013.

Ben's work focuses on measurement and modelling approaches to the indoor environment. He is particularly interested in the energy-efficient ventilation of buildings and its relationship with indoor air quality and occupant health.

Now and then, a piece of work comes along that has the attention of the room. And the work that Ben and his colleagues have been responsible for on Harm is right up there.

It's about the Harm that pollutants may cause and ways we can better define it and ultimately what we consider good or bad indoor air quality.

We talked about much more, including relative risk, cooking pollutants and what he is working on right now.

As always with Ben it was a genuinely fascinating conversation. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for listening.

Ben Jones - LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-jones-0686a214/

Ben Jones  - Nottingham University - https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/engineering/departments/abe/people/benjamin.jones

A preliminary assessment of the health impacts of indoor air contaminants determined using the DALY metric - https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14733315.2023.2198800

AIVC - https://www.aivc.org/

ASHRAE 241 - https://www.ashrae.org/technical-resources/bookstore/ashrae-standard-241-control-of-infectious-aerosols

Support the show

Check out the Air Quality Matters website for more information, updates and more. And the YouTube Channel

The Air Quality Matters Podcast is brought to you in partnership with.

Eurovent Farmwood Aereco Aico Ultra Protect Zehnder Group

The One Take Podcast is brought to you in partnership with.

SafeTraces & InBiot

All great companies that share the podcast's passion for better air quality in the built environment. Supporting them helps support the show.

Send us a text

Ben Jones - Associate Professor at the University of Nottingham in the Department of Architecture and Built Environment.

With a  Master's Degree in Aeronautical Engineering, he worked as a Senior Software Engineer at BAE Systems before completing an Engineering Doctorate in Environmental Technologies at Brunel.

He was a Research Associate at University College London for two years before taking the post in Nottingham in 2013.

Ben's work focuses on measurement and modelling approaches to the indoor environment. He is particularly interested in the energy-efficient ventilation of buildings and its relationship with indoor air quality and occupant health.

Now and then, a piece of work comes along that has the attention of the room. And the work that Ben and his colleagues have been responsible for on Harm is right up there.

It's about the Harm that pollutants may cause and ways we can better define it and ultimately what we consider good or bad indoor air quality.

We talked about much more, including relative risk, cooking pollutants and what he is working on right now.

As always with Ben it was a genuinely fascinating conversation. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for listening.

Ben Jones - LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-jones-0686a214/

Ben Jones  - Nottingham University - https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/engineering/departments/abe/people/benjamin.jones

A preliminary assessment of the health impacts of indoor air contaminants determined using the DALY metric - https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14733315.2023.2198800

AIVC - https://www.aivc.org/

ASHRAE 241 - https://www.ashrae.org/technical-resources/bookstore/ashrae-standard-241-control-of-infectious-aerosols

Support the show

Check out the Air Quality Matters website for more information, updates and more. And the YouTube Channel

The Air Quality Matters Podcast is brought to you in partnership with.

Eurovent Farmwood Aereco Aico Ultra Protect Zehnder Group

The One Take Podcast is brought to you in partnership with.

SafeTraces & InBiot

All great companies that share the podcast's passion for better air quality in the built environment. Supporting them helps support the show.

Send us a text

Tyler Smith is Vice President, of Healthy Buildings at Johnson Controls.

A background in engineering he has spent 18 years with the company in roles focused on leveraging building management systems and HVAC equipment to drive outcomes in energy efficiency and indoor air quality.

From 2018 to 2020 he led the Critical Environments business unit, which designs and manufactures systems for critical spaces such as hospitals and laboratories.

From late 2020, he has led Johnson Controls’ Healthy Buildings portfolio with a focus on helping building owners operate healthier buildings through improved indoor air quality.

He brings a unique perspective on how large organisations are starting to understand healthy buildings. Not just through the lens of there customers but even internally.

Just imagine for a second you take on the role of healthy buildings at the start of a global pandemic, and your organisation has over 100k employees across 2000 buildings in six continents.

Notwithstanding the impact you can have on the perception of air quality and health internally, the impacts organisations like Johnson Controls can have at a broader level even with incremental changes is enormous and fascinating to discuss.

They have been in buildings for over 140 years, they know a thing or two about how this works, and Tyler is at the Vanguard of enterprise-level thinking in this space.

We talked about how the corporate world is starting to see air quality and health in buildings, the impact standards are having in the sector, ESG, Big Data, air quality of course and much more.

Johnson Controls - Healthy Buildings - https://www.johnsoncontrols.com/smart-buildings/healthy-buildings

Tyler Smith - VP Healthy Buildings - linkedin.com/in/tyler-smith-4934835

WELL Building Standards - https://www.wellcertified.com/

ASHRAE 421 - https://www.ashrae.org/technical-resources/bookstore/ashrae-standard-241-control-of-infectious-aerosols

WGBC - Health and productivity in the workplace -

Support the show

Check out the Air Quality Matters website for more information, updates and more. And the YouTube Channel

The Air Quality Matters Podcast is brought to you in partnership with.

Eurovent Farmwood Aereco Aico Ultra Protect Zehnder Group

The One Take Podcast is brought to you in partnership with.

SafeTraces & InBiot

All great companies that share the podcast's passion for better air quality in the built environment. Supporting them helps support the show.

Send us a text

Part 2

Tyler Smith is Vice President, of Healthy Buildings at Johnson Controls.

A background in engineering he has spent 18 years with the company in roles focused on leveraging building management systems and HVAC equipment to drive outcomes in energy efficiency and indoor air quality.

From 2018 to 2020 he led the Critical Environments business unit, which designs and manufactures systems for critical spaces such as hospitals and laboratories.

From late 2020, he has led Johnson Controls’ Healthy Buildings portfolio with a focus on helping building owners operate healthier buildings through improved indoor air quality.

He brings a unique perspective on how large organisations are starting to understand healthy buildings. Not just through the lens of there customers but even internally.

Just imagine for a second you take on the role of healthy buildings at the start of a global pandemic, and your organisation has over 100k employees across 2000 buildings in six continents.

Notwithstanding the impact you can have on the perception of air quality and health internally, the impacts organisations like Johnson Controls can have at a broader level even with incremental changes is enormous and fascinating to discuss.

They have been in buildings for over 140 years, they know a thing or two about how this works, and Tyler is at the Vanguard of enterprise-level thinking in this space.

We talked about how the corporate world is starting to see air quality and health in buildings, the impact standards are having in the sector, ESG, Big Data, air quality of course and much more.

Johnson Controls - Healthy Buildings - https://www.johnsoncontrols.com/smart-buildings/healthy-buildings

Tyler Smith - VP Healthy Buildings - linkedin.com/in/tyler-smith-4934835

WELL Building Standards - https://www.wellcertified.com/

ASHRAE 421 - https://www.ashrae.org/technical-resources/bookstore/ashrae-standard-241-control-of-infectious-aerosols

WGBC - Health and productivity in the workplace -

Support the show

Check out the Air Quality Matters website for more information, updates and more. And the YouTube Channel

The Air Quality Matters Podcast is brought to you in partnership with.

Eurovent Farmwood Aereco Aico Ultra Protect Zehnder Group

The One Take Podcast is brought to you in partnership with.

SafeTraces & InBiot

All great companies that share the podcast's passion for better air quality in the built environment. Supporting them helps support the show.

Send us a text

Peter Rickaby - Part 2-  Lessons from Thamesmead and the damp and mould crises

Now living in South Africa Peter is an Independent Energy and Sustainability Consultant working for the UK housing and building industries.

His influence on how we view energy in buildings, risk, retrofit and standards in the UK is wide-ranging and profound.

For 35 years from 1982 to 2017, Peter was a Director of Rickaby Thompson Associates, a specialist energy and sustainability consultancy with clients including three UK Government Departments, the Energy Saving Trust, the Building Research Establishment, National Energy Services, The Institute for Sustainability, the BBC and many more.

He contributed extensively to the industry-led Each Home Counts Review, where he  was also a member of the Implementation Board

He chaired the BSI Retrofit Standards Task Group and was Technical Author of PAS 2035:2019 Retrofitting Dwellings for Improved Energy Efficiency: and PAS 2038 Retrofitting Non-Domestic Buildings for Energy Efficiency:

Peter's knowledge of how we understand risk in the built environment intrigues me, and I have seen first-hand how this has had profound effects on outcomes in the most challenging environments.

We discussed how our perspective of risk in both retrofit and moisture in buildings has developed over the last few decades, his career and the now famous Theamesmead project, the condensation damp and mould crisis of the last 12 months—ventilation, of course, and much more.

BSI White paper - Moisture Risk in Buildings https://sdfoundation.org.uk/downloads/BSI-White-Paper-Moisture-In-Buildings.PDF

BSI PAS 2035 https://www.bsigroup.com/en-GB/standards/pas-2035-2030/

Each Home Counts https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7f1384e5274a2e8ab49f6b/Each_Home_Counts__December_2016_.pdf

Support the show

Check out the Air Quality Matters website for more information, updates and more. And the YouTube Channel

The Air Quality Matters Podcast is brought to you in partnership with.

Eurovent Farmwood Aereco Aico Ultra Protect Zehnder Group

The One Take Podcast is brought to you in partnership with.

SafeTraces & InBiot

All great companies that share the podcast's passion for better air quality in the built environment. Supporting them helps support the show.

Send us a text

Peter Rickaby - Part 1-  Risk in retrofit, moisture balance, standards and more.

Now living in South Africa Peter is an Independent Energy and Sustainability Consultant working for the UK housing and building industries.

His influence on how we view energy in buildings, risk, retrofit and standards in the UK is wide-ranging and profound.

For 35 years from 1982 to 2017, Peter was a Director of Rickaby Thompson Associates, a specialist energy and sustainability consultancy with clients including three UK Government Departments, the Energy Saving Trust, the Building Research Establishment, National Energy Services, The Institute for Sustainability, the BBC and many more.

He contributed extensively to the industry-led Each Home Counts Review, where he  was also a member of the Implementation Board

He chaired the BSI Retrofit Standards Task Group and was Technical Author of PAS 2035:2019 Retrofitting Dwellings for Improved Energy Efficiency: and PAS 2038 Retrofitting Non-Domestic Buildings for Energy Efficiency:

Peter's knowledge of how we understand risk in the built environment intrigues me, and I have seen first-hand how this has had profound effects on outcomes in the most challenging environments.

We discussed how our perspective of risk in both retrofit and moisture in buildings has developed over the last few decades, his career and the now famous Theamesmead project, the condensation damp and mould crisis of the last 12 months—ventilation, of course, and much more.

BSI White paper - Moisture Risk in Buildings https://sdfoundation.org.uk/downloads/BSI-White-Paper-Moisture-In-Buildings.PDF

BSI PAS 2035 https://www.bsigroup.com/en-GB/standards/pas-2035-2030/

Each Home Counts https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7f1384e5274a2e8ab49f6b/Each_Home_Counts__December_2016_.pdf 

Support the show

Check out the Air Quality Matters website for more information, updates and more. And the YouTube Channel

The Air Quality Matters Podcast is brought to you in partnership with.

Eurovent Farmwood Aereco Aico Ultra Protect Zehnder Group

The One Take Podcast is brought to you in partnership with.

SafeTraces & InBiot

All great companies that share the podcast's passion for better air quality in the built environment. Supporting them helps support the show.

Send us a text

Part 2

Max Sherman was a senior scientist at  Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, retiring in 2016  where he ran a research group for over 30 years.

It is hard to overplay the impact Max has had in our sector; even a cursory look at published papers on airtightness and infiltration, air quality or ventilation it's no surprise to see Max as an author, co-author or cited at some point in the work.

He has been a long-standing contributor to standards through ASHRAE 

Recipient of the Distinguished Fellow Award, Environmental Health Award, and Exceptional Service Award.  

He is a former member of the board.  Currently Vice-Chair of 241 a standard on the control of infectious aerosols and member of the Environmental Health Committee

In part 2, we discuss the performance gap, the age of digital feedback loops and how they may influence ventilation outcomes or not. We dive into the value of harm for pollutants and the value or not of monitoring TVOC and PM.

Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory https://www.lbl.gov/

American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers https://www.ashrae.org/

ASHRAE 241 https://www.ashrae.org/technical-resources/bookstore/ashrae-standard-241-control-of-infectious-aerosols

Air Infiltration and Ventilation Centre (AIVC) https://www.aivc.org/

Support the show

Check out the Air Quality Matters website for more information, updates and more. And the YouTube Channel

The Air Quality Matters Podcast is brought to you in partnership with.

Eurovent Farmwood Aereco Aico Ultra Protect Zehnder Group

The One Take Podcast is brought to you in partnership with.

SafeTraces & InBiot

All great companies that share the podcast's passion for better air quality in the built environment. Supporting them helps support the show.

Send us a text

Part 1

Max Sherman was a senior scientist at  Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, retiring in 2016  where he ran a research group for over 30 years.

It is hard to overplay the impact Max has had in our sector; even a cursory look at published papers on airtightness and infiltration, air quality or ventilation it's no surprise to see Max as an author, co-author or cited at some point in the work.

He has been a long-standing contributor to standards through ASHRAE 

Recipient of the Distinguished Fellow Award, Environmental Health Award, and Exceptional Service Award.  

He is a former member of the board.  Currently Vice-Chair of 241 a standard on the control of infectious aerosols and member of the Environmental Health Committee

We discuss the origin of adequate air quality, his work at Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory over 30 years and more recently his work with ASHRAE standard 241 "Control of infectious aerosols"

Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory https://www.lbl.gov/

American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers https://www.ashrae.org/

ASHRAE 241 https://www.ashrae.org/technical-resources/bookstore/ashrae-standard-241-control-of-infectious-aerosols

Air Infiltration and Ventilation Centre (AIVC) https://www.aivc.org/

Support the show

Check out the Air Quality Matters website for more information, updates and more. And the YouTube Channel

The Air Quality Matters Podcast is brought to you in partnership with.

Eurovent Farmwood Aereco Aico Ultra Protect Zehnder Group

The One Take Podcast is brought to you in partnership with.

SafeTraces & InBiot

All great companies that share the podcast's passion for better air quality in the built environment. Supporting them helps support the show.