Indoor air quality is deemed as ‘a planning issue’

The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has been encouraged to take into consideration indoor air quality (IAQ) for his London Plan.

In the future, this could lead to developers needing to achieve a certain IAQ when trying to get planning permission.

For buildings of a certain size, the Clean Air London campaign has requested that Khan includes IQA levels in his revised London Plan.

With pollution on the up, the campaign’s founder, Simon Birkett, has requested that more measures are put in place to turn more buildings into “safe havens”.

Support has been expressed by the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) for the proposal to ensure a certain level of IAQ is necessary if you want to gain planning permission.

It has been said by the chief executive at BESA, Paul McLaughlin, that focusing on IAQ could make an immediate difference.

“While the lengthy debates and legal challenges over how to address outdoor air pollution rumble on, our industry can make an instant impact by putting measures in place that protect the health of building occupants.”

In an announcement made by Khan in January 2017, it was said that £1.4 million worth of funding will be for six neighborhoods to tackle London’s air quality.

Along with this, £1.1 million from the London boroughs involved and Heathrow Airport.

It has been described as a “game changer” if Khan would support an IAQ planning proposal, according to Birkett.

It was also mentioned by Birkett that the building guidelines currently include requirements for upholding NO2 at safe levels that should be imposed, saying:

“People spend about 90 per cent of their time indoors and the cost of filtration is about 10 per cent of the cost of actually getting air into the building,”

“The cost of filters is tiny compared to salaries and the impact of poor air quality on people’s health and productivity.”

In the early stages of June 2017, a High Court Challenge against the UK Government’s draft consultation on the plans to improve air quality was launched by ClientEarth, explaining that they include “major flaws”.

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