Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Testing

Regular indoor air quality (IAQ) testing can identify areas for improvement in indoor air quality and provide benchmarks to ensure air quality remains optimal over time, contributing to enhanced respiratory and mental health. 

For full strategy and documentation requirements, please refer to the digital scorecard made available on the Fitwel Platform.

Strategy Insights

Implementation:

• This strategy provides both a full credit and an Alternative Compliance (AC) pathway:
• For full credit, testing or monitoring must be conducted for at least five of the required elements, and the results must be within the levels outlined in the strategy requirements.
• For Alternative Compliance, testing or monitoring must be conducted for at least three of the required elements, and the results must be within the levels outlined in the strategy requirements.
• The frequency of testing must be on an annual basis for all occupied projects. If the project undergoes construction or major renovations, testing must be conducted after completion and prior to occupancy.
• Direct reading instruments may be used for all air metrics except for testing formaldehyde. 
• PM0.5, PM5, and PM10 do not qualify as substitute elements for PM2.5. 
• If testing, all five elements must be tested annually, within a period of 12 months, though the timing to capture element readings may occur at different intervals (e.g., testing for humidity may occur separately within the year from carbon dioxide). 

Testing Location:

• The location of testing or monitoring must be every 25,000 sq.ft., or per Air Handling Unit (AHU) zone, whichever is more stringent and on each level within the project.
• For workplace projects:
•  “regularly occupied spaces” do not include hallways/corridors and/or elevator banks. 
• For residential projects:
• IAQ testing/monitoring does not need to be conducted within individual dwelling units.
• For floors that include only dwelling units (i.e., do not include any common area space), testing must occur in corridors/hallways and/or elevator call areas on each floor. 

Sample Documentation

*note, the sample documentation above presents findings for the minimum required 5 elements, though your project team may select any 5 of the listed 6 elements to test (or 7, in the case of Senior Housing).