AIVC proudly announces the creation of Indoor Environment Global Alliance

AIVC and the 5 other founding members (AiCARR, AIHA, ASHRAE, ISHRAE and REHVA) is proud to announce the creation of the Indoor Environmental Quality Global Alliance (IEQ-GA) association registered in Brussels. The mission of the IEQ-GA is to promote and advocate for indoor climate and health in buildings. Indoor environmental quality is a multidisciplinary domain involving, among others, architects, engineers, industrial/occupational hygienists, health sector specialists. To date there was no association to join all stakeholders in the field of indoor environmental quality to work together, exchange knowledge and advance the cause. The IEQ-GA provide such a platform and is seeking new members from all the involved sectors and disciplines to join forces. REHVA is keen to develop the organisation strongly relying on the European excellence in human centred system design and building operation.

The 6 founding members from North America, India and Europe announce with great pleasure the establishment of a new global association on indoor environmental quality to serve as global platform facilitating the exchange of indoor environmental knowledge and information, promoting related education and research for health and indoor environmental quality in buildings. The IEQ-GA operated since 2014 based on a Memorandum of Understanding signed by interested parties and is now formalised as an association to enable further development of the organisation. The founding members of the association represent professionals from various disciplines linked to indoor environment. They are committed to work together and promote education, research and knowledge exchange at a global scale, to develop standards, codes, guidelines and advocate the well-being of the general public in indoor environments over the globe.

The IEQ-GA is inviting interested organisations in the field to become members and join forces to achieve better indoor environment quality in buildings across the world.

The announcement of the IEQ-GA AISBL happened at a festive ceremony during the 40^th AIVC conference “From energy crisis to sustainable indoor climate” which took place in Ghent on 15-16 October. At the ceremony, the founding members celebrated with short speeches the establishment of the association and presented its mission and objectives to tackle healthy indoor environment in the buildings sector.

Donald Weekes, President of the IEQ-GA extended his gratitude to the six founding members that have persevered in their efforts to develop the IEQ-GA. “The work that has been done to create the IEQ-GA has been shared by the members since 2013, and it has resulted in a bond across the world for our members. Now is the time to move forward with this new association to help ensure that people everywhere get the best possible working and living conditions, including clean air, adequate lighting and a reduction in noise levels. I look forward to a bright future for IEQ-GA, and to its work with other related professional associations, who I invite to join us in the global effort to improve the lives of all humans.”

Founding members in the IEQ-GA are:

• AiCARR is the Italian Association of Air Conditioning, Ventilation and Refrigeration, active and interconnected community of more than 2400 members, including designers, university professors, installers and maintenance technicians, manufacturers, public authorities, and students. (http://www.aicarr.org/).
• AIHA, the American Industrial Hygiene Association is the premier association of occupational and environmental health and safety professionals. AIHA’s 10,000 members play a crucial role on the front line of worker health and safety every day. Members represent a cross-section of industry, private business, labour, government and academia (http://aiha.org/).
• AIVC, the Air Filtration and Ventilation Center is one of the projects/annexes running under the Energy in Buildings and Community Systems implementing agreement, within the context of the International Energy Agency. With the support of 17 member countries as well as key experts and two associations (REHVA and IBPSA), the AIVC offers the building sector, policy makers and research organisations technical support aimed at better understanding the ventilation challenges and optimising energy efficient ventilation (http://aivc.org/).
• ASHRAE, formerly the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers is global society advancing human well-being through sustainable technology for the built environment. The Society and its more than 55,000 members worldwide focus on building systems, energy efficiency, indoor air quality, refrigeration and sustainability (http://ashrae.org/).
• ISHRAE, the Indian Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers, has over 12,000 HVAC&R professionals as members and additionally there are 10,500 Student-members. ISHRAE operates from over 40 Chapters (http://www.ishrae.in/).
• REHVA is the Federation of European Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning associations founded in 1963. It is an umbrella organization that represents over 120,000 HVAC designers, building services engineers, technicians and experts across 27 European Countries (www.rehva.eu).