Readers Response Draft 1

In the excerpt Guidelines for Good Indoor Air Quality in Office Premises, Ministry of the Environment (MNV, 1996) stated that buildings should be designed and constructed regarding the pollution which may occur within the building. The Air Conditioning and Mechanical System (ACMV) should be constructed in a manner that reduces the spread of contaminants. MNV (1996) also mentioned that the materials and surfaces of the building should not emit any harmful chemicals, while the placement of outdoor air intakes should not be situated near sources of pollution. Buildings should be constructed in ways that prevent contaminants from entering. To ensure contaminants do not enter, the air ducts should be fitted for easy maintenance and inspections as well as being built with materials that produce less friction. Although the excerpt mentioned that materials and surfaces can add to the poor indoor air quality, it fails to mention the importance of good indoor air quality and how our health would be affected by it.

Firstly, having poor indoor air quality affects our respiratory health. Indoor air consists of pollutants and the natural outdoor air being brought in through air ducts or entrances. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA, 2018) stated that the pollutants can irritate the eyes, nose, and throat. It can also trigger headaches and giddiness as well as provoke an asthma condition. The risks of having poor indoor air quality should be made known to convince them to take a more serious approach to ensure the quality of indoor air. EPA (2018) also mentions that “Other health effects may show up years after exposure has occurred or only after long or repeated periods of exposure.” The short- and long-term exposure of poor indoor air quality should be highlighted to companies during the design and construction phase for them to put more thought into the way their buildings are fitted.

Although the excerpt states that the materials and surfaces should not emit harmful chemicals, we do not know what harmful materials are used during construction or how they would be a risk to our health. One common material used in construction is asbestos. According to the National Environment Agency (NEA, 2018), it states that breathing in asbestos fibres can lead to lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis. An article by (Audrey, 2018) states that “Due to its links to health problems such as lung cancer, its use in buildings was banned in Singapore in 1989, but many earlier structures still contain the substance.” (Audrey, 2018) also mentions that asbestos is not harmful if they remain unharmed. Once the fibres are released and sniffed, they will be harmful to us. It is worth noting that many buildings in Singapore were built before the 1980s and therefore would contain traces of asbestos in the building. Therefore, it should be indicated that when retrofitting a building to accommodate good indoor air quality, the materials of the building should be checked before carrying out any works to prevent the inhalation of asbestos.

One other dangerous material emitted from building materials is formaldehyde. According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2018) formaldehyde may be “emitted slowly from indoor building materials, furniture, paints, and carpets.” Not only is the design and construction phase essential to ensure good indoor air quality, but we must also ensure that the types of furniture that are being used are safe from such chemicals. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR, 2016) informs that to reduce the levels of formaldehyde in buildings, we can let in fresh air, introduce exhaust fans, and keep temperature and moisture at an appropriate level. Since formaldehyde is in many of our items at home or in buildings, these actions can help to reduce our exposure to them. ATSDR (2016) also mentions that another method is to purchase products that have little or no formaldehyde in them. This will help to lower the amount of formaldehyde that we breathe in and leave us with better health in the long run.

References

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. (2016, February 10). Formaldehyde in Your Home: What you need to know. Retrieved from https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/formaldehyde/home/index.html

Audrey, T. (2018, 23 April). Asbestos found on St John’s Island, more than half of the island sealed. The Straits Times, Retrieved from https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/asbestos-found-on-st-johns-island-more-than-half-of-the-island-sealed

Ministry of the Environment. (1996).  Guidelines for Good Indoor Air Quality in Office Premises. Retrieved from https://www.bca.gov.sg/GreenMark/others/NEA_Office_IAQ_Guidelines.pdf

National Environment Agency. (2018, 7 May). Asbestos Control. Retrieved from https://www.nea.gov.sg/our-services/pollution-control/hazardous-waste/asbestos-control

United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2018, January 29). Introduction to Indoor Air Quality. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/introduction-indoor-air-quality

World Health Organization. (2016, August 4). Indoor air quality risks. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/sustainable-development/housing/health-risks/indoor-air-quality/en/

Summary Article (Draft 3) Indoor air quality

In the excerpt Guidelines for Good Indoor Air Quality in Office Premises, MNV (1996) stated that buildings should be designed and constructed regarding the pollution which may occur within the building. The Air Conditioning and Mechanical System (ACMV) should be constructed in a manner that reduces the spread of contaminants. MNV (1996) also mentioned that the materials and surfaces of the building should not emit any harmful chemicals, while the placement of outdoor air intakes should not be situated near sources of pollution. Buildings should be constructed in ways that prevents contaminants from entering. To ensure contaminants do not enter, the air ducts should be fitted for easy maintenance and inspections as well as being built with materials that produces less friction. This excerpt elaborates on ways that air pollution within a building can be reduced through the design and construction of the building. However, there are other methods available as well.

Ministry of the Environment. (1996).  Guidelines for Good Indoor Air Quality in Office Premises.
Retrieved from https://www.bca.gov.sg/GreenMark/others/NEA_Office_IAQ_Guidelines.pdf 

Summary Article (Draft 2) Indoor Air Quality

In the article Guidelines for Good Indoor Air Quality in Office Premises, MNV (1996) states that buildings "should be designed with regard to the pollution which may arise within the building." The Air Conditioning and Mechanical System (ACMV) should be constructed in a manner that reduces the spread of contaminants. MNV (1996) also mentions that the materials and surfaces of the building should not emit any harmful chemicals, while the placement of outdoor air intakes should not be situated near sources of pollution. Buildings should be constructed in ways that prevents contaminants from entering. To ensure contaminants do not enter, the air ducts should be fitted for easy maintenance and inspections as well as being built with materials that produces less friction. I agree that planning for the build up of air pollution within the building is essential to have a clean and healthy work space.

Summary Article (Draft 1)

In the book "Guidelines for Good Indoor Air Quality in Office Premises", NEA (1996) believes that buildings "should be designed with regard to the pollution which may arise within the building." "The ACMV system (Air Conditioning and Mechanical Ventilation System)," should be arranged in a manner to reduce the spread of contaminants. NEA also mentions that the materials and surfaces of the building should not emit any harmful chemicals, while the placement of outdoor air intakes should not be situated near sources of pollution. Buildings should be constructed in ways that prevents contaminants from entering. To ensure contaminants do not enter, the air ducts should be fitted for easy maintenance and inspections as well as being built with materials that produces lesser friction.

Goh, K. T., Sze, G., Sng, J., Bong T. Y., Tan, C. C., Lee, M. H., Ong, T. H., Foo, S. C., Tham, K. W., Wang, G. Y., Ooi, P. L. (1996). Guideline for Good Indoor Air Quality in Office Premises. Retrieved from https://www.bca.gov.sg/greenmark/others/NEA_Office_IAQ_Guidelines.pdf

Reflection on habitual behaviour

When I was young, there was a period where I used to eat chocolate frequently. Sometimes I would eat before meal times or right after. Being quite young, I did not think of the consequences of what would happen if I ate too much chocolate or if I did not cut down on the intake. I simply enjoyed eating as much chocolate as I wanted to without any concern for my health.

Overtime, I started to have sore throat and cough more frequently than before. I do not know if this is caused from the overeating of chocolate but, it was the reason why I had to cut down on my chocolate intake significantly. Cutting down on chocolate allowed me to eat more in each meal and my health was better than before.

Eating more per meal and my reduced throat problems, helped me to reduce my cravings or intake of chocolate significantly. As I was reducing on my intake on chocolate, I started exercising as well and this helped with getting used to the lack of chocolate in my diet. Ever since this moment, I became health conscious of the type of food that I eat in fear of health implications. 

Edited 9/13/2018 9:07pm

Little bit about me

Subject: Self-introduction

Dear Prof Brad,

I am writing to you to introduce myself, my name is Jarod Chia studying in Sustainable Infrastructure (Land). I graduated from Temasek Polytechnic with a diploma in Clean energy. Studying Clean energy has taught me much about the different ways we can harness energy from our surroundings and use them to power our cities. I believe that in the future with fossil fuels being depleted, we need to start looking into renewable energy as a power source for the near future.

My purpose in continuing my studies in Sustainable Infrastructure, is to build on my foundations of electrical engineering and learn about mechanical engineering. In the past, I did not learn any physics in secondary school or polytechnic. Therefore, one of my concerns is learning physics from scratch and keeping up with the classes. Some goals that I have in this module is to improve on my workplace communication skills and improve on my writing skills. These two skills would allow me to communicate well In a workplace as communication is important to relay instructions as well as information.

During my time in Temasek Polytechnic, I realized that I am confident in giving presentations in front of the class. This is provided I had enough time to prepare for the presentation or that I am well versed in the topic I was presenting on. One weakness that I have is structuring my sentences to allow myself to express my thoughts and ideas smoothly. Many times, I get stuck trying to figure out how to carry on and keep the flow of the sentence.

I hope that this module would build on the communication skills that I learned from my secondary and polytechnic school days and teach new skills that can be used in the future.

Best regards,

Jarod