In 1972, the American Lung Association (ALA) instated “Clean Air Week” in May to inform the public about how air quality can affect one’s respiratory health. Two decades later, in 1994, the ALA expanded this initiative, devoting the entire month of May to clean air awareness. This year and last, Clean Air Month has a renewed importance in the wake of COVID-19. Top scientists and researchers have discovered that the primary method of COVID-19 transmission is via respiratory droplets in the air, which has spurred a movement to improve indoor air quality (IAQ) measures across all industries, especially schools, offices, and retail centers.

At The Budd Group, we’re always committed to maintaining and improving the health and safety of our employees and clients. We would be honored to help you celebrate Clean Air Month this year through our wide range of service offerings.

Services for Cleaner Air

HVAC System Maintenance and Repair

Your heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system is the crux of any facility’s clean air efforts. Not only can an outdated, faulty, and/or damaged HVAC system significantly increase your energy costs and create an uncomfortable work environment -- it can also fail to remove harmful pollutants inside your building such as dust, pollen, and mold spores. As we discussed in a previous post, “Top Hazards of Dust in the Workplace,” these harmful particles can trigger allergies, harm the lungs, irritate the skin, impair one’s vision, and more. As such, it’s important to periodically change out filters, inspect and clean vents and other HVAC components, and install a personal indoor air quality meter inside your facility to keep tabs on pollution levels. The Budd Group can help with these maintenance and repair efforts, installing a brand new electrostatic air filter when necessary, removing drain clogs, checking refrigerant levels, lubricating moving components, and much more.

Floor Cleaning

Your facility’s flooring can be a major contributor to indoor air pollution, especially if the floor is soft (i.e., carpeting) and/or porous (i.e., concrete). Floors of all kinds quickly become inundated with dirt, dust, and other contaminants as people and equipment tread upon them each day. If these floors aren’t properly maintained, these contaminants linger and get released into the air, eventually entering the lungs of those nearby. While an efficient HVAC system will do its best to mitigate these indoor pollutants, reliable commercial floor cleaning services will nip the problem in the bud before it gets the chance to contaminate the air via daily sweeping and wet mopping, spot cleaning, periodic deep cleaning, resurfacing, etc.

Surface Disinfection

Disinfection has been top of mind amid the COVID-19 pandemic. And while surface contamination doesn’t appear to be a major cause of transmission for this particular virus, unclean and unsanitary surfaces do deplete IAQ on the whole. The Budd Group’s janitorial cleaning services are well-equipped to disinfect and clean all types of surfaces within a facility. In doing so, dust, germs, and other contaminants don’t get much of a chance to linger or make their way into the air, improving your air quality overall.

Trash and Debris Removal

Most of us are familiar with the unpleasant odor given off by garbage when it's not properly disposed of. This stench isn’t merely a psychological nuisance, however -- lingering trash and debris can pollute the air in ways that may cause negative health outcomes. If you don’t have a solid trash removal regimen in place, then your IAQ can quickly suffer. At The Budd Group, our trash and debris removal offerings are designed to optimize your garbage disposal needs, so your waste is regularly kept at a safe enough distance from your facility to not offend or harm your employees or customers.

Landscaping

In addition to promoting solutions for improving a facility’s IAQ, Clean Air Month is also about environmental education. Indeed, air pollution is a much more widespread problem facing the entire world, and it’s important for everyone to do their part to reduce their negative environmental impact -- doing so also yields immediate financial and health benefits. Take landscaping, for instance. Maintaining your facility’s landscape via services like fertilization, irrigation, eco-friendly pest management, etc., helps absorb and eliminate pollutants in your local environment. Not only is this a small win for the world at large -- it also keeps allergens, pests, and other harmful actors away from your facility and your people. Our eco-friendly lawn care services are also designed to beautify your property to attract more business and improve your community.

Clean Up Your Act This May and Beyond

How will you be celebrating Clean Air Month this year? If it’s time to take your indoor air quality more seriously, The Budd Group can provide the help you need with our HVAC maintenance, floor care, cleaning, disinfection, trash removal, and landscaping services. To learn more about our services and everything else that we do for our clients, give us a call today at 800-221-8158!

Click here for more detailed information on improving indoor air quality from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). And for more information regarding ventilation and air disinfection for coronavirus from the CDC, click here.