Cleaner Air Means Healthier People: Say Yes to the EPA Clean Air in Buildings Challenge

By Ganesh Ramaswamy, President, Global Services, Johnson Controls
The recent introduction of the EPA’s “Clean Air in Buildings Challenge” marks an essential step in the journey toward healthier, cleaner infrastructure throughout the country. Released in March 2022, this challenge provides a set of guidelines and resources building owners and operators can use to prioritize indoor air quality (IAQ) within their facilities. This challenge was laid out in in conjunction with the Biden Administration’s National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan as a way to get Americans back to their “normal” routines in a safe, healthy way. Building owners and operators can best protect occupants when buildings uphold the highest standards for clean air—and Johnson Controls is ready to make IAQ-focused upgrades simple and effective.

The EPA’s Clean Air in Buildings Challenge guidelines:

1. Create a clean indoor air action plan that assesses indoor air quality, plans for upgrades and improvements, and includes HVAC inspections and maintenance.
2. Optimize fresh air ventilation by bringing in and circulating clean outdoor air indoors.
3. Enhance air filtration and cleaning using the central HVAC system and in-room air-cleaning devices.
4. Engage the building community by communicating with building occupants to increase awareness, commitment, and participation.

While the COVID-19 pandemic served as the initial motivator for this program, the benefits of a nationwide push for cleaner air go above and beyond virus mitigation. Prioritizing clean, fresh air in buildings improves the health of occupants overall as well as productivity and concentration. It can also reduce energy consumption, create more sustainable facilities and improve bottom lines.

What HVAC Professionals Can Expect
Some workers and students remain uncertain about returning to shared spaces with the knowledge that shared air can threaten their health and well-being. Now, with greater focus on IAQ coming from the general population as well as the highest levels of the government, the market for clean and sustainable HVAC solutions is poised to expand even further. Organizations of all kinds are taking advantage of available funding and seeking strategic partnerships with companies like Johnson Controls that have made healthy infrastructure their business.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that demand for HVAC professionals will grow 15% by 2026—and that number may only get bigger as the need for IAQ and sustainable infrastructure improvements becomes more recognized. HVAC providers and professionals must now reflect on how well their solutions address IAQ concerns and take steps to fill this market need through partnerships and hiring pushes. Furthermore, teaching existing and emerging HVAC professionals about sustainable solutions – and training those individuals to communicate the advantages of those solutions – will be integral moving forward to continue to fill the skills gap.

Stepping up to the Challenge: Financing IAQ Improvements
Making these upgrades can feel like a challenge for organizations with already-stretched budgets. However, clean air has myriad benefits—including for organizations’ bottom lines. Johnson Controls experts can customize a strategy that will work best given the unique parameters, available funding and expected outcomes of each project.

OpenBlue IAQ as a Service (IAQaaS)—an industry-first offering from Johnson Controls—allows facilities to pay for outcomes instead of equipment. Our long-term life cycle funding models allow facilities to modernize and refresh clean air environments while mitigating risk – putting clean air-focused upgrades within reach for facilities of all types.

Federal stimulus funding from the American Rescue Plan can be used for this purpose as well as state and local funds. Energy Saving Performance Contracting (ESPC) offers a budget-neutral approach that allows building owners to make efficiency and health-focused improvements through partnerships with ESCOs like Johnson Controls.

With an arsenal of funding models and innovative energy-conserving solutions at their disposal, Johnson Controls professionals sit at the ready to support building owners and managers across the country in their journey to improve IAQ and create healthier, more efficient spaces. Doing so—and encouraging others to do the same—will drive sustainability and occupant health outcomes while safeguarding our planet’s future.