Three Chicago firms unite to launch innovative indoor air quality program

ESD, Cohesion and Riverside Investment & Development are deploying a state-of-the-art indoor air quality (IAQ) program this summer. The first building to host the program will be Chicago’s 150 North Riverside.

This collaborative program will deliver enhanced levels of safety, comfort and assurance to occupants as they return to the building amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The program holistically combines secondary air purification, the most advanced commercial filtration system on the market, ventilation rates that significantly exceed national standards, and 24/7/365 indoor air quality and pollutant measurement and verification.

Rigorously tested for safety and efficacy, the recently procured bipolar ionization air cleaning system will actively clean pollutants and pathogens from the air and surfaces. In addition, air quality sensors are being installed throughout the 1.2-million-square-foot property, and Cohesion’s Intelligent Building Platform will connect to the building’s automation and controls systems to monitor eight separate air quality components including carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, VOCs, airborne particulates, ozone, radon, formaldehyde and outdoor fresh air supply rates.

The program is designed to actively clean and filter the building’s air to reduce mold, bacteria, viruses, VOCs, odors and other harmful pollutants in the occupied space. It will also drive environmental system changes and airflow adjustments to improve IAQ based on the data received from sensors.

Additionally, the program will improve transparency by providing occupants visibility into indoor environmental conditions and boost employees’ confidence that building operators are continuously monitoring and responding to the factors that keep the building healthy.

According to a May 2020 Cohesion survey of commercial office building tenants, employees want to feel confident that their buildings are doing all that they can to remain safe and clean, with building cleanliness and IAQ decidedly the most important factors.

As such, the program at 150 North Riverside will exceed tenant expectations upon their return to the building. Tony Scacco, principal and executive vice president of Riverside Investment & Development, believes that indoor environment will be an area of particular focus for occupants going forward.

“Most of our tenants have a national, if not global, perspective, and we’ve been in constant communication with them throughout the pandemic,” Scacco said. “Our goal was to proactively test and adopt emerging technology in a manner that enhances what we believe was already among the safest properties in the country. In collaborating with ESD and Cohesion over the past several months, we are confident we are taking aggressive steps to establish an elevated standard for indoor environmental conditions.”

Raj Gupta, executive chairman of ESD, the engineering consultant on the project, cited the importance of the performance data.

“Providing the indoor-air-quality measurements and information gathered by Cohesion to all building occupants is a powerful tool to help everyone feel comfortable in the workplace,” said Gupta.

Added Thru Shivakumar, chief executive officer of Cohesion, “One of the biggest factors for employee health and productivity is air quality. Without being able to measure it, operators don’t have visibility to their building’s air quality status or know what to change to improve it. Connected systems are the only way to measure, verify, and take action.”