IAQ in office buildings located in the north and in the south of Italy

An investigation method based on the HACCP system was applied to eleven representativeoffice buildings with HVAC system located in different latitudes in Italy, to evaluate themicrobiological quality of the air supplied. Bacterial and fungal levels near supply airdiffusers pointed out medium-low contamination and analysis of data showed a highermicrobial load in the buildings located in the South of Italy with respect to those in the North.IAQ of five buildings was examined in more detail. Air samples demonstrated an overallgood microbial removal efficiency of the examined HVAC system. Water from thehumidification unit was assessed for pathogens and bacterial contamination. Microclimaticparameters showed an overall condition of comfort, but CO2 concentration at times reachedfairly high values. VOCs concentration was higher indoors than outdoors. The application ofHACCP system highlighted some critical situations giving the possibility of preventing theoccurrence of deleterious health effects.