From the pages of Images Retail (May 2009)

Indoor vs Outdoor Air, The former can be lethal

By Varun Pahwa, executive VP, DRI

What used to be a dreadful shopping exercise earlier, has now become a pleasant experience, thanks to the retail boom in India. By saying dreadful shopping exercise, the reference is to shoppers who used to spend hours on a hot summer day, struggling with carry bags as they hopped from one shop to another. However, with the advent of malls, shopping has become an indulgence as these malls offer almost everything under one roof, in a soothing and comforting ambience.

Rising bourgeoisie class and disposable income have led to a spiraling growth of shopping malls in India during the last five years. The number of malls is expected to reach 600 by 2009-end. But in concurrence to this the high profile growth, there also exists a coverted monster – bad indoor air quality (IAQ). Unlike the popular perception that an enclosed air conditioned zone is free of all pollutants and dirt, it has been discovered that indoor air is more polluted than the outdoor air and is amongst the top five environmental risks as listed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

These malls do not offer the occupants any control over their environment, that is, they cannot open windows if the store feels stuffy and unaired. The only option us turn on the exhaust fans, or leave the room, if the space is filled with dust, tobacco smoke, fine carbon dust from copying machines, etc. Also these malls have a particular need to ensure that their premises are kept clean so as to allow a soothing ambiance to shoppers. At times, these cleaning and sterilisation practices can also become potential source of indoor air pollutants. Due to all these factors, the indoor air in a conditioned space can be up to 10 times more polluted than outdoor air and may pose a health risk due to their high concentration. Therefore, IAQ assumes importance in conditioned places where we shop.

Poor IAQ has caused severe diseases amongst the people across the world. These problems are associated with symptoms that are particularly brought about by contamination of the indoor environment, by the growth bacteria, fungi, mold, viruses and mildew (collectively termed micro-organisms) spread through the circulation of air exhaled, as well as from food material, etc. These pollutants may result in health problems like irritation of eyes, blocked nose and throat, headaches, dizziness, lethargy, fatigue etc. According to World Health Organisation (WHO), indoor air pollution causes 14 times more deaths than outdoor air pollution.

Considering that on an average a customer spends more than three hours in a day in a mall and each mall witnesses an average footfall of 10,000 every day excluding employees, good IAQ is imperative to make these buildings truly pleasant.

ASHRAE (the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers) Standard 62.1, ‘Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality’ defines the minimum ventilation levels that are mandatory for different types of retail formats...

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