Indoor air quality (IAQ) has become a public health issue over the last twenty years, with growing concern for people, the scientific community, public authorities and businesses, especially since the Covid-19 epidemic. In France, the socio-economic cost of indoor air pollution is estimated at more than 19 billion euros a year. Furthermore, managing indoor air quality impinges on other issues, including the energy performance and environmental footprint of our buildings and transportation system.
Climate change has also altered our perception of this issue. Reducing emissions involves improving building insulation, which raises new questions about ventilation. Businesses are concerned as both producers and users of various substances, as well as hosts to their employees and customers in their premises or vehicles.
In recent years, nearly forty large member companies of the Association française des Entreprises pour l’Environnement (EpE) have collaboratively shared their experience within the framework of the Health & Environment Commission. This collaborative effort aims to identify, understand, and respond to health, environmental and economic issues related to indoor air quality for both their internal operations and external stakeholders. This publication serves as an update on the knowledge gained and the work carried out by this Committee as well as member companies to improve indoor air quality.