Indoor Air Quality Services: What HVAC Professionals Should Know

“[Air quality] is a serious public health issue. If you keep your house’s relative humidity between 40 and 60 percent, you eliminate bacteria growth, virus growth, fungus growth, dust mites, respiratory infections, asthma, allergies, chemical interactions, ozone production, and more.”

Marco Radocaj, Owner of Balance HVAC (Vero Beach, FL)

In today’s energy-conscious world, installing and maintaining quality HVAC systems goes beyond mere comfort. It is crucial for safeguarding indoor air quality. While most people associate HVAC systems primarily with temperature control, a well-functioning system plays a pivotal role in filtering and circulating air, reducing exposure to pollutants and allergens.

As homes and buildings increasingly become airtight for energy efficiency, ensuring good indoor air quality becomes paramount. HVAC professionals are at the forefront of this challenge, tasked with designing and maintaining systems that keep occupants comfortable while providing a healthy indoor environment.

“I always like to picture it as if your family were a bunch of fish that live in an aquarium. The indoor air quality is the water that you’re living in. Then, the filter and that whole apparatus would be the HVAC system,” explains Marco Radocaj, owner of Balance HVAC in Vero Beach, Florida. “You want a system that will keep the water clear, keep things from growing on the walls, and all the fish inside the tank are healthy and thriving, not just surviving.”

According to Radocaj, the primary indoor air quality issues include particulate matter in the air, humidity, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and carbon dioxide.

When indoor air quality is poor, it can cause problems for those living in the home: “It is a serious public health issue. If you keep your house’s relative humidity between 40 and 60 percent, you eliminate bacteria growth, virus growth, fungus growth, dust mites, respiratory infections, asthma, allergies, chemical interactions, ozone production, and more. Everything that could be bad about your air is negated or nominal. As soon as you’re outside that parameter, those issues increase exponentially,” explains Rodcaj.

Ensuring a home has proper humidity and is safe for inhabitants is critical to HVAC professionals’ work. Keep reading to learn more about this vital part of the job, how Radocaj addresses it with his clients, what technology is useful in this space, and the future of indoor air quality.

Meet the Expert: Marco Radocaj

Marco Radocaj is the owner of Balance HVAC in Vero Beach, FL. He is qualified in Manual J, Manual S, and Manual D and is EPA Refrigeration Certified. Before this, he was vice president of building performance at Ryan A. Jones & Associates, a construction company.

Radocaj has recently been featured in the media discussing attic restorations, which involves carefully aligning the home’s enclosure with its mechanical system to meet the needs of those living there. This approach ensures a healthy, stable indoor environment. He is also on a mission to elevate the standards of the HVAC industry and revitalize the importance of skilled trades.

Issues and Changes Facing HVAC Professions Around Indoor Air Quality

One of the biggest challenges facing HVAC professionals today is accepting the change that comes with advancing technology and not resorting to outdated methods. “The old rules of how to do things were created when we didn’t have digital tools and the internet. We couldn’t gather a plethora of information with precise measurements like we can today,” says Radocaj. “The rules were all you had. Digital tools that could give you precise readings were thousands of dollars. Now, they are a few hundred.”

These changes and technological developments require that professionals in this field adapt. “You have to swallow your pride and do things differently,” encourages Radocaj. “The extra legwork you think you are doing upfront isn’t much. Especially when you consider that, in the end, you won’t have all these nuisance calls or issues when it’s all done.”

The goal for Radocaj is to create a system using the best technology available that will ensure the occupant’s health and comfort and not get him a call to come back to the property right away.

Another issue today’s HVAC professionals face is the increased efficiency of houses and heating and cooling units. While building materials and construction techniques have made homes more energy-efficient than ever, these improvements can inadvertently lead to challenges in ventilation and air movement. Highly efficient homes are often tightly sealed to minimize energy loss, which can significantly restrict airflow and increase the risk of indoor air pollution. Similarly, modern HVAC units have become more energy-efficient, focusing on optimizing temperature control with minimal energy usage.

However, this can sometimes result in insufficient air turnover and stagnation inside the building. As units have become more efficient, they remove less humidity than older units. “AC systems are getting better at removing heat and worse at removing water. The windows, roof, and insulation also stop heat, but the water will stay the same. Water is in the air and comes from people in the house, the amount of cooking, doors opening and closing, etc. With new systems, you have to plan for supplemental dehumidification,” notes Radocaj.

How to Address Indoor Air Quality

To address these indoor air quality concerns, HVAC professionals need to focus on a holistic approach that includes proper system design, installation, and maintenance. This includes accurately calculating heating and cooling loads based on building size, orientation, construction materials, number of occupants, etc., to ensure adequate airflow and ventilation. Here is how Radocaj addresses indoor air quality.

Assessment

First and foremost, an HVAC professional needs to assess what is going on with the home or building. While it is possible to glean all the necessary information from an inspection, Radocaj relies on those with experience: “I trust that the homeowner is the expert of that home, and then insert my expertise around what they. They already know the issues in the home,” he says. He asks them what they like about the home and then listens to their complaints about cold or hot rooms, leaky windows, moldy areas, or air drafts.

Once he has the homeowners’ firsthand account, he starts his inspection. “A lot of it is photo documentation. We like to crawl through all the nooks and crannies of the attic, and those are always really eye-opening to the homeowners. We take pictures from below with infrared cameras, too. We can show them these deficiencies and insulation leakage. People typically have been sticking their heads in the sand regarding these issues, or they’ve become comfortable with just living with them, so we need to show them firsthand what is going on,” he shares.

Also, Radocaj makes sure to ask how people in the home are feeling. “We really want to make sure that we’re talking about that so they can notice and be aware of it. Not all things in the air in your house might not impact you. If there are two people living at the home, it might not impact the husband or the wife. When the grandchildren or son or daughter return from college, they might have issues with the air in the house. Homeowners should pay attention to this,” he says. Not everyone may notice when someone isn’t doing well, so it is important to bring it up often.

Action Plan

Once the assessment is done, it is time to work on the next steps. “We start with the baseline. We run some tests, and when we have the results, we can tell the owner that this is how leaky your home and duct systems are now with concrete hard numbers,” explains Radocaj. “Then we tell them what needs to be done and how it will impact how they feel living inside the house once we’re complete. Which is generally a lot better.”

This process can include replacing a leaky ducting system, adding insulation, or sealing up air leaks. Radocaj also encourages homeowners to use Energy Star-approved appliances to increase their homes’ energy efficiency. After completing all the work, they redo all the testing to show the homeowner how the indoor air quality has improved.

Collaboration

It is not just about the HVAC professional determining and implementing solutions. It is also essential to work with other professionals, such as energy auditors or home performance contractors, to ensure all areas of the building are addressed. “There are such complex systems, and there are so many different aspects involved, it makes communication between trades imperative,” says Radocaj.

“Especially with encapsulated houses, where there has to be communication between everyone and at least have a basic understanding about maintaining indoor air quality. So if someone makes a hole in it, we need to fill that hole in or let somebody know who can fill that hole in. For example, if the electrician had to cut in wiring for a camera and make a big hole to work through, they can’t just leave it, or it will cause humidity problems.”

Ongoing Maintenance

Lastly, ongoing maintenance is crucial to ensure good indoor air quality. This includes regular filter changes, system check-ups and cleanings, and addressing any potential issues as soon as they arise. By staying on top of maintenance, homeowners can continue to enjoy a healthy indoor environment for years to come.

It is also important for HVAC professionals to educate their clients on the importance of maintenance and provide them with tips and resources on how they can maintain good indoor air quality in between professional visits.

Get Up-To-Date With Indoor Air Quality

With the increasing focus on energy efficiency and tightening of buildings, it is more critical than ever for HVAC professionals to understand and address indoor air quality concerns. Radocaj has taken the self-education route and believes all field professionals have access to tools to keep up-to-date with new indoor air quality standards. “The way that I got a foot in the door was listening to really great podcasts. There are some that talk about this almost exclusively,” he shares. “Corbett Lunsford has a great YouTube channel that we, as an office, watch weekly. HVAC School has an excellent podcast…Just get familiar with the terminology and the new technology. You’ll find the niche that is the most interesting or intriguing to you, and then you can really kind of dive in.”

This proactive approach allows professionals to stay ahead of industry trends, technologies, and standards, thereby equipping them to address clients’ needs more effectively. Self-directed learning can take many forms, from consuming educational podcasts and webinars to attending workshops and engaging with professional communities online.

By continuously seeking knowledge and understanding new tools and techniques, HVAC professionals can offer up-to-date solutions and personalized advice, fostering trust and satisfaction among their clients.

Technological Advances in Indoor Air Quality Testing and Management

Technology has played a significant role in advancing indoor air quality testing and management. With the development of sensors and monitoring systems, HVAC professionals can now accurately measure and track levels of pollutants and contaminants in a building. This allows for implementing more targeted solutions, resulting in better indoor air quality for occupants. “The accessibility of micromanometers to read tiny amounts of pressure, whether it’s outside, inside, or room to room, has really changed the game,” explains Radocaj.

He continues, “Another tool that is called measureQuick. A lot of stuff we do can be hard to understand if you are not in this trade. This tool puts everything on a gradable scale letter grades, like an A+ to C-. It is on a scale from one to 100 and lets you know if you’re in green, yellow, or red. It’s really user-friendly, and I can hand it to the customer and review it with them so they don’t feel lost. They have explanations on that app as well.”

Tangible tools that are easy for consumers to understand make daily work much easier for professionals in this field. “We also use an app called CompanyCam. As we’re crawling through the attic and seeing the issues, we can record them and then send the owners a gallery of pictures with markups or descriptions attached,” explains Radocaj. “They can then send it to other contractors that may be involved in the project, so they can get things corrected.”

Future of Indoor Air Quality

As technology advances and more research is conducted on the effects of indoor air quality on human health, the HVAC industry is likely to place even greater emphasis on this aspect. Radocaj believes that as consumers become more educated about indoor air quality, they will demand higher standards from their HVAC professionals.

Consumers will experience more of the technology firsthand, predicts Radocaj. “I think there will be more Bluetooth and connectivity. I foresee more external hardware that can assess the parameters of the air and automatically run a dehumidifier or an energy recovery ventilator. The whole house will be fine-tuned from the peak of the roof to the bottom of the cellar,” he says.

This is partly because newer homes are built completely enclosed or encapsulated. “We used to have open attics or soffits, so there was constant air movement, whether you liked it or not. It was a thoughtless type of thing. There’s no responsibility in that. But now, once you encapsulate houses, you have to move air with the fan intentionally, and it has to be calculated,” he says. “If you’re not conditioning interior spaces intentionally and precisely, water will make its way to your house and will always cause problems, whether it’s comfort, mold, or durability.

Kimmy Gustafson

Kimmy Gustafson is a freelance writer with a passion for sharing stories of bravery. Her love for world-traveling began when her family moved to Spain when she was six and since then, she has lived overseas extensively, visited six continents, and traveled to over 25 countries. She is fluent in Spanish and conversational in French. When not writing or parenting she can be found kiteboarding, hiking, or cooking.