The Impact of Air Pollution on Athletes’ Health: A Review of Risks and Recommendations
The Brussels Marathon being a popular event in the heart of the city, it is interesting to note the lack of awareness the health risks of air pollution in an urban setting on the everyday athlete. Air pollution presents significant risks to health, both in the short and long term, particularly for individuals who engage in outdoor physical activity as they breathe more heavily and inhale greater amounts of polluted air, which can have serious repercussions. While Brussels is not amongst the most polluted cities in the world, it still accumulates concentrations above thresholds established by the World Health Organisation when it comes to air pollution. It’s important to stay aware of the health effects, and how to train in the most optimal conditions for an enhanced athletic performance…
Green Building Certification: Your Checklist for Successful Performance Verification
Performance verification is the finish line of a green building certification marathon for a building project. At this moment, a project team and people involved in the construction of the building get to know if all the solutions and mechanisms implemented in the building are working following the design plan.
Given the importance of these tests, the Airscan team has prepared a short checklist that will help your green building project achieve the certification(s) and receive the highest possible score…
Ozone Levels In Brussels For The Last 10 Years
Did you know that the very air we breathe can be both a shield and a hazard? While ozone high up in the atmosphere protects us from the sun’s harmful rays, ground-level ozone can pose serious health risks. Airscan’s latest decade-long study reveals alarming trends in ozone levels across Brussels, with certain summer days seeing concentrations double the WHO’s recommended limit. Dive into our findings to understand how ozone impacts your environment and discover practical tips to protect yourself during high-pollution days..
Urban green spaces and Car Free day: can parks help purify our air?
Air quality plays a vital role in the overall health and well-being of urban populations. Clean air is essential for maintaining respiratory and cardiovascular health, especially for vulnerable groups such as children, the elderly, and individuals with pre-existing conditions. However, urban environments are often hotspots for air pollution, much of which is caused by traffic emissions. The day without cars takes place annually in Brussels, to promote and encourage its citizens to use more sustainable modes of transportation with the goal of reducing these emissions. This venture is of the utmost importance, as emissions in the city can reach consequential concentrations, harming our health and environment.
Wood Hub: WELL Pre-Test (Indoor Air and Water Quality)
Airscan was mandated by BPI to assess indoor air quality conditions and water quality in the Wood Hub building prior to the WELL certification (WELL pre-test). The results of this pre-testing will be used by the project team as input for the upcoming actual WELL certification of the building…
Mastercard x Airscan: BREEAM certification
Mastercard’s newly renovated HQ in Belgium set high standards for sustainability, aiming for BREEAM certification. Here’s how Airscan played a crucial role in helping the banking pioneer to achieve this goal. Let’s dive into the details of the project.
Denys: Air Quality Tests In Prison Village
The Haren prison village represents one of Belgium’s recent initiatives to address issues related to overcrowded prisons and deteriorating penitentiary infrastructure. The Haren facility is designed to accommodate 1,190 detainees. In addition to the prison overcrowding problem, the project targeted to achieve the maximum ratio between health, indoor well-being, and comfort with a minimum environmental impact following an “Energy Neutral Building” concept. The project was built on a 15-hectare site near Brussels and comprised 17 building units of 116,000 m2…
When Sustainability Drives Building Design and Construction: The Role of Green Building Certification
The increasing amount of time people spend indoors, which often exceeds 85% of their day or roughly 20 hours, has heightened awareness around the quality of indoor environments. As a result, issues such as indoor air quality, lighting (both color and intensity), thermal comfort, and acoustic levels have become critical areas of focus. These factors are not only essential for health and well-being but also significantly influence tenants’ productivity and concentration. Given the importance of these factors, developers and building owners are increasingly turning to the concept of green buildings. This approach focuses on creating sustainable, healthy indoor environments that are energy-efficient and environmentally friendly. To achieve these standards, many are pursuing certifications such as WELL, BREEAM, LEED…
Air Quality in Belgium
The importance of good ambient air quality in cities has finally received high recognition over the past few years, thanks to more and more evidence proving the direct link of air pollution to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases as well as premature death rates. In addition, the long-awaited update on safe air pollution limits released by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2021 has pushed people to reflect on the quality of the air they breathe. To address this important question, Airscan prepared a technical report delving into the analysis of air pollution levels and their fluctuations over the preceding five years across five cities in Belgium: Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi, and Liege..
What is the Air Quality Like In a Typical One-Bedroom Apartment in Brussels?
In Europe, people spend 80% to 90% of their time indoors. While most modern offices are equipped with efficient
ventilation systems, houses, and apartments often lack these technologies to monitor and improve air quality. Therefore, Airscan conducted a study to evaluate the presence of different pollutants inside a one-bedroom apartment located in Brussels, Belgium. The study focused on VOCs, PM2.5, and CO2, each of which significantly impacts human health…
