Clean Air Benefits Everyone
To continue their focus on creating healthy, sustainable environments, the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OTSP) has released information outlining the importance of clean indoor air. Officials emphasize that better indoor air quality is necessary to lower the transmission of infectious diseases like COVID-19 by 80% and improve living by reducing various air pollutants. Better indoor air quality (IAQ) can be best achieved by upgrading ventilation and air filtration methods.
The Biden administration also notes that clean indoor air is paramount in addressing equity and environmental justice. IAQ can help provide more protection to the immunocompromised, those with disabilities, lower-income communities, and other marginalized people who tend to suffer the most from increased exposure to higher environmental pollution. Cleaner indoor air can provide individual and societal benefits.
To underscore this commitment, the OTSP also released a fact sheet explaining how the White House and federal agencies established building portfolios. These portfolios for IAQ standards funded related research created roadmaps for long-term studies and provided financial guidance for organizations and individuals to improve air ventilation and filtration. Billions in federal funding from the American Rescue Plan and other grants can be used to make building-level improvements across the nation, resulting in long-lasting air quality changes for all.
The OTSP also stresses the usefulness of portable air cleaners and filtration units in cleaning indoor air within personal and communal spaces. The EPA has concluded that units with HEPA filters could reduce exposure to various aerosol particles by up to 65%. Their information suggests choosing ENERGY STAR-certified units designated as HEPA units, appropriately sized, and having a high Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR) for smoke.
The White House clearly reaffirmed its commitment to making cleaner indoor air possible for all Americans. Under its current president, the federal government continues to build a coalition to improve IAQ through policy, funding, technology, innovation, and partnership. Businesses focused on better indoor air have a powerful backer in the Biden administration.
Watch October’s White House Summit on Indoor Air Quality to learn more about these initiatives.
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