Indoor environmental quality (IEQ) refers to the quality of a building’s environment in relation to the health and well-being of those who occupy space within it. IEQ is a measure of multiple aspects of an indoor environment on human health and performance, including indoor air quality, lighting, visual quality, acoustics, and thermal comfort. Understanding the sources of indoor environmental contaminants and controlling them can often help prevent or resolve building-related worker symptoms. The myriad of commercial and industrial workplaces presents an environment with a multitude of safety and industrial hygiene hazards. After 17 years in business, we have earned a reputation of quality and professionalism. Don’t risk your, your familes', or your employees’ health by having your home or business evaluated by unqualified, inexperienced people. Our core business is industrial hygiene and air monitoring, and it shows. To maximize your facility’s indoor environmental quality and address any issues, EHSolutions:

• • • • Performs comprehensive site assessments

      • Designs survey methods and sampling techniques

      • Performs hazard mapping

      • Designs remedial action and methods to determine the efficacy of the restoration effort

      • Delivers timely, cost-effective and site-specific recommendations to solve air quality problems

Indoor air quality (IAQ) is a subset of IEQ and is a measure of the building’s interior air in terms of the occupant’s potential health and comfort. Indoor environments are highly complex and building occupants may be exposed to a variety of contaminants (in the form of gases and particles) from office machines, cleaning products, construction activities, carpets and furnishings, perfumes, cigarette smoke, water-damaged building materials, microbial growth (fungal, mold, and bacterial), insects, and outdoor pollutants. EHSolutions works with families, contractors, building owners, facility managers, and restoration professionals to ensure indoor air quality deficiencies are dealt with in a safe, satisfactory manner. Indoor air quality (IAQ) assessments require an extensive knowledge of hazards, building construction, sampling strategies, and health effects. EHSolutions provides the most comprehensive, technologically advanced and detailed assessments in the industry. EHSolutions provides comprehensive, cost-effective indoor environmental quality assessment services for:

• Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)

• Asbestos

• Carbon monoxide

• Mold

• Bacteria

• Illicit Drugs

• Fire and Smoke Particulate

• Heavy metals

• Welding fume

• Paint vapors

• Light

• Lead

• Contaminated soil

• Total Particulate

• Noise

• Pesticides

EHSolutions offers a comprehensive set of offerings related to the detection and assessment of hazardous building materials. These services are designed to ensure that building owners/developers are in full compliance with State and Federal regulations and that projects can proceed on schedule and on budget. A thorough inspection is performed to ensure that building owners/developers do not face unforeseen problems. EHSolutions inspects for hazardous materials, such as asbestos, metallic paint (chromium, cadmium, lead, etc.), mercury-containing components, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). We analyze chemical storage and hygiene practices to ensure compliance with applicable federal and state regulations. Our final report presents the quantity and location of these components, offers information regarding proper removal, and includes estimates of anticipated costs.

EHSolutions conducts hazardous materials assessments for the hazardous materials that impact building use, renovation or demolition. We conduct the level of assessment, from visual screening to regulatory-mandated sampling and analysis programs to optimally meet project objectives. These assessments let us determine if hazardous substances are present and in what quantities, and then develop options and costs for management or removal. Our goal is to help our clients make informed business decisions considering cost, schedule and regulatory requirements. EHSolutions can efficiently and effectively assess and estimate quantities of the hazardous materials present in your facility, whether it’s vacant or operational or prior to renovation or demolition, to locate materials that can present challenges if not addressed in advance. Regardless of the situation, proper identification and management of these materials is critical.

We work with owners and prospective owners in support of real estate transactions, building renovation/demolition projects, facility closures, site development/redevelopment projects, and ongoing risk management activities in occupied facilities and vacant buildings, to assess the presence and quantities of hazardous materials and releases from those materials. The presence of hazardous materials, such as asbestos-containing materials (ACMs), lead-bearing paints/coatings, polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs), mercury-containing equipment, radioactive materials and potential biological contaminants can pose a threat to occupants of existing facilities, add complications and costs to building renovation or demolition projects, and present potential regulatory violation risks for owners. Upon completion of the assessments, EHSolutions prepares detailed reports that include a summary of the types and quantities of materials assessed, recommendations for abatement/remediation, and/or options for long-term management; regulatory compliance analyses; and opinions of costs; depending on project objectives.

Written health and safety programs, a required component of many OSHA laws, outline the protocol that your company will follow to ensure your employee’s safety. The most frequently sighted OSHA violations are related to underdeveloped or non-existent health and safety programs. To ensure that your organization implements and maintains a proper health and safety program, EHSolutions will provide the following services:

• Review of your operations to determine which health and safety programs would be required. If programs already exist, we can review the content and determine if the plan is comprehensive enough.

• Determination of whether requirements contained in the health and safety program are being implemented.

• Development of site-specific compliance programs like confined space entry, lock-out/tag-out, respiratory protection, personal protective equipment, hazard communication, and corporate safety and health policy.

• Writing of facility-specific employee health and safety training programs.

Having a written program is just the first step. Once a plan has been developed, implementation is paramount. If work is being performed and the procedures depicted in the plan are not being followed, the OSHA compliance officer will issue a citation. Additional costs may include hikes in insurance premiums and worker’s compensation rates if accidents or injuries occur.

Building ventilation is required to ensure that occupants get enough fresh air to maintain comfort and dilute contaminants. Excessive or deficient ventilation rates can cause significant problems for a building and its occupants.

Industrial or process ventilation is used to control contaminants generated during or as part of an industrial process. The ventilation can be provided at the source (local exhaust) to control the release of the contaminant or to dilute contaminants that may escape from the process.

Ventilation System Evaluations

To ensure air flows properly throughout your facility, EHSolutions:

• Measures the air flow to document current system conditions

• Inspects HVAC systems for cleanliness, number and locations of supply and return ducts, duct velocity, and flow

• Evaluates current hood design and recommend enhancements for improved capture

• Evaluates local exhaust system design for worker protection against process contaminants

• Determines if appropriate make-up air is provided to ensure optimum exhaust ventilation performance

• Makes timely, cost-effective and site-specific recommendations to address any ventilation issues

Industrial Ventilation

In industrial facilities, exhaust ventilation is meant to control toxic vapors and dusts. Proper containment of process contaminants serves to maintain a safe, healthy work environment for employees.

Exhaust ventilation systems must be evaluated on a regular basis to ensure proper design and functioning. Our expert staff can evaluate your industrial ventilation system to ensure that your employees are protected. In many cases we find an excess of ineffective ventilation which wastes energy and increases overhead costs. For example, the operation of exhaust fans utilizes a significant amount of electricity and requires additional heating expenses in the winter.

Commercial Office Buildings

In commercial office buildings ventilation dilutes odors, conditions the air, and filters allergens. A ventilation inspection is a crucial part of any indoor air quality assessment. Poorly designed or poorly operating ventilation systems cause occupant discomfort that may consist of:

• Occupants feeling too hot or too cold

• The presence of unpleasant odors

• Allergic response due to dust, pollen, or mold

• Headaches and other acute symptoms caused by the buildup of volatile chemicals

• Feeling tired and unproductive

Occupant discomfort reduces employee productivity which in turn reduces operational efficiency and profits. To determine if the ventilation system may be the cause of indoor air quality concerns, our consultants will:

• Inspect the ventilation system to determine if the system is clean and operating properly

• Measure the airflow that the system is currently delivering

• Inspect the complaint area for proper supply and return air distribution

Many ventilation problems, if discovered early on during design or installation, can be remedied fairly easily and inexpensively. Allowing HVAC systems to operate unchecked, however, can result in reduced productivity and increased monetary expense. By having EHSolutions inspect and assess the ventilation system at the first signs of HVAC or indoor air quality problems, these negative results may be avoided.