Information services that can alert facilities personnel regarding the condition and performance of the spaces they manage will help build the confidence required to continue the expansion of demand control ventilation. In fact, the availability of information services that can document compliance with indoor environmental quality (IEQ) performance metrics may well be the driving incentive for implementing a monitoring and control strategy.

Information solutions must be multi-faceted, providing multiple perspectives relevant to different audiences. EH&S professionals will want to examine IEQ and building performance data, while energy managers will likely be more interested in monthly savings and identifying issues that may be impacting those savings.

Other key attributes of effective monitoring systems include:

• Visual displays of analyzed information, not just raw data.
• Short- and long-term trend information.
• Alerts for high-priority issues based on persistence or pervasiveness, not just simple parameter thresholds.
• Automated summary reports that can provide high-level views of how a facility is operating.

Information services have evolved to help organizations manage their critical environments proactively and report performance information in meaningful ways to building owners, facility managers, EH&S personnel, and accreditation and regulatory bodies.

This cleanroom tip was taken from “The New IEQ,” which appeared in the February 2013 issue of Controlled Environments.