News

Jan 02, 2024

More Concerns Vented about Air Quality in Federal Buildings

An audit has said that the GSA is “struggling” to meet standards for ventilation

An audit has said that the GSA is "struggling" to meet standards for ventilation and testing of air in buildings it controls, increasing "the risk that building occupants will be exposed to airborne viruses, including the virus that causes COVID-19."

The report from the inspector general's office at the GSA is the latest in a series raising the same concerns, including one focusing on child care centers in federal buildings, one pointing out that the aging heating/air conditioning systems in many buildings cannot accommodate the kinds of filters needed to meet current air quality standards, and one focusing on deficiencies in parts of GSA's own headquarters building.

Like the prior reports, the latest one notes that filtering and ventilation systems in federal buildings are to follow both industry standards and internal government requirements and that the Coronavirus pandemic triggered a strengthening of many of them.

It said, though, that the Public Buildings Service is not meeting or does not have complete information to determine if it is meeting industry standards for ventilation; that it is not performing the required testing to determine whether ventilation systems in buildings meet those standards; and that air handlers either do not meet those standards or cannot be assessed due to lack of data.

For example, it said that an assessment ordered by the GSA resulted in contractors recommending improvements in all 62 buildings examined in the first phase. Also, in a sampling of 39 air handlers, the IG found that seven did not meet standards for bringing in fresh air from outside and that GSA could not provide the data to determine whether 26 met those standards.

Management agreed with the report's recommendations, including to assess whether air handlers in GSA-owned buildings meet ventilation standards and take action where problems are identified; and to ensure that building occupants are notified of problems with air quality in GSA-owned buildings.

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