Improving the quality of the air people breathe inside offices and schools would reduce sickness and improve concentration levels so much that it could benefit New Zealand to the tune of $1billion, a new report released today [Wednesday 25 September] has found.
Over a dozen New Zealand businesses and organisations – including ANZ, Playcentre, PMG Funds, Citycare Property, Cushman & Wakefield, Programmed, Frucor Suntory, and Health and Safety Association New Zealand – are backing the report’s call for improved air quality standards, and are today asking the government to set and implement improved indoor air quality standards for all public buildings.
The new report also found that school absenteeism would drop with better classroom air, and attendance would rise by over half a million school days. Improving school attendance “should be the government’s top priority in education” Christopher Luxon has previously said.
Despite standards for indoor air in the Building Code, the evidence available suggests that these are not being met in much of New Zealand’s buildings, the report finds.
The report, called Time to clear the air: the economic benefits of improving New Zealand’s indoor air quality, reveals that increasing air flow into offices and schools ‘would deliver significant benefits at relatively low cost’.
The billion-dollar boost, which would be over ten years, would far exceed the investment required, which would be a much smaller figure of up to $253million.
If extended beyond offices and schools to all public buildings, the economic benefits would be much higher.
The full list of organisations backing the call for improved indoor air quality in public buildings is PMG Funds, ANZ, Cushman &Wakefield, Programmed, Citycare Property, Jacksons Engineering, Otago Museum, Frucor Suntory, IAQ Research Centre New Zealand, Association of Building Compliance, Playcentre, Health and Safety Association New Zealand, Air Quality Collective, IRHACE, CCCANZ and RLNZ.
The new report, written by Shamubeel Eaqub and Sense Partners, and commissioned by FMANZ, is being launched today [Wednesday] at the Facilities Management Summit, a two-day event at Auckland’s Viaduct Event Centre, attended by hundreds of key players in the building and property sector. Read the report here:
Jo Duggan, the chief executive of FMANZ, who have organised the coordinated call for improved air quality, said: “The quality of the air we all breathe has consequences for the health, wellbeing, learning, and productivity of every single one of us whenever we’re inside a building. And that’s pretty much all of us, and everyone we love and care about, pretty much every single day.
“The science on improved air quality indoors is clear. Better air in our buildings means people are healthier, and more productive, school attendance improves, and concentration levels and learning get a boost too.
“This first of its kind research unveils a compelling economic case, on top of the scientific evidence. Improving the air inside our buildings is good for business, good for our children, good for school attendance, good for our health and wellbeing, and good for our economy.
“New Zealand businesses are backing a shift to better indoor air. Now it’s time for our politicians to do the same.”
Economist and report co-author, Shamubeel Eaqub, said: “The cost of poor indoor air quality is far too high to ignore. It means more sickness, lower productivity, more school absences, and all the economic costs that come with these.
“But now we can say with certainty that fixing this brings real benefits, to people and to the economy, that spread far into the future. This is, quite simply, the right thing to do, and it’s time for us to work together to make it happen.”
FMANZ is the peak trade body representing the tens of thousands of people employed in the multi-billion-dollar facilities management industry in Aotearoa.
Every day, facilities managers look after billions of dollars of vital assets, and millions of New Zealanders. All of our schools, hospitals, offices, warehouses, museums, sports stadiums – the nation’s entire portfolio of buildings – rely on facilities managers to keep them operating.
Check out the full report here.
