The Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) promulgated the Indoor Air
Quality Management Act (IAQMA) in 2011, making Taiwan the second nation around the
world after Korea to implement statutory regulations for indoor air quality (IAQ). To facilitate
the implementation of the IAQMA, the EPA announced public and private premises that shall
comply with the Act batch by batch. At present, the number of the first and second batches of
announced premises in Taipei is 90 and 234, respectively. The amount of announced premises
in Taipei is the highest in Taiwan as well as the most categories.
To assist the announced and unannounced premises in Taipei to be more informed about
IAQ management, this project has conducted matters related to inspection and examination,
guidance, training, and promotion of regulation and IAQ voluntary management certificate.
220 premises were inspected for carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), and
formaldehyde (HCHO) by using portable devices. The sports and fitness centers, kindergarten,
infant day care center, postpartum nursing center, parent-child center, office, and market were
found to be the categories that the ventilation rates for local space may not meet the minimum
requirements. Among them, the postpartum nursing center was one category that the
ventilation rates for the whole space were estimated at relatively low levels. In addition, 60
premises were examined by standard reference methods. The levels of CO2 were found to
exceed the legal threshold for 7 premises in which 3 announced premises have made
improvements within a limited time period after guidenace. Furthermore, parallel sampling
with the inspection instrument and reference method for total volatile organic compounds
(TVOCs) and HCHO was performed in 5 premises where inspection results shows somewhat
unusual affected by environmental interference.
20 premises received the on-site guidance to identify the symptoms and causes of poor IAQ,
including pollutant source, air conditioning and ventilation system, maintenance and
management. After guidance, constructive, economical, and problem solving approaches were
suggested by the experts to correct poor IAQ problems. It is concluded that the ventilation and
exhaust rates are critical for the sports and fitness centers, especially for underground small
and medium-sized relevant premises. Besides, improvement of an index addressing both the
ventilation conditions and risk of bacterial contamination for the diagnosis of IAQ
management has been made. By using the radar chart of index, the performance of IAQ scope
management was evaluated. The weak index can be therefore found for taking measures
intended to provide IAQ that is acceptable.
Finally, 3 workshops were held to train dedicated personnel for IAQ maintenance and
management. The advantages of installing automatic equipment for continuous monitoring of
IAQ were also promoted in the workshops. This year, 189 premised received the IAQ
voluntary management certificates. Certificate breakdown shows that infant day care center,
postpartum nursing center, and kindergarten, which are also sensitive groups, are the first
three categories.
