Beijing’s Office Air May Be Worse Than Outdoors

China’s latest environmental regulations require that children be kept home from school on days with the worst air pollution, but office workers may need similar safety measures, according to recent research into air quality in Beijing’s office buildings.

Ninety percent of offices in China’s capital provide no meaningful protection against PM2.5 pollutants – the tiniest particles that penetrate deep into lungs and can enter the bloodstream – according to a recently released study by JLL and PureLiving China.

During this past month air pollution levels in many parts of China have returned to historically unhealthy levels, with 10 cities issuing red alerts for smog just before Christmas.

Few Buildings Can Clear Out Even 40 Percent of Pollutants

In spot checks performed by JLL across 160 office buildings in Beijing during the second half of 2015, only 10 percent of the locations testing managed to achieve at least a 60 percent reduction in PM 2.5 levels. During the last week, the air quality index that measures PM2.5 levels in Beijing has repeatedly surged above 500, a level rated as beyond index where any reading above 150 is considered to be unhealthy.

And for any office workers who feel sick of their jobs, it might not just be about bad management. The report, titled “Every Breath We Take – Transforming the Health of China’s Office Space,” found that 25 percent of the office buildings surveyed actually had worse air quality than that found just outside their doors. In explaining this phenomena the report’s authors pointed out that badly designed air intakes – for example from parking garages, or insufficient fresh air supplies could bring down the quality of indoor air.

LEED Is Helping the Outdoor Environment, But Not Yet the Indoor

Even in green buildings that have received the popular LEED certification for efficiency and environmental design, air quality was not necessarily safer than outside, with some of the lowest ranked buildings being LEED-certified, according to the report’s finding.

At least in Shanghai, some developers are already working on ensuring the quality of indoor air, in anticipation of occupiers demanding safe breathing for their teams. HKRI Taikoo Hui by Swire and HKR International and Hines’ One Museum Place, both of which are currently under construction in the city’s Jing An district, have air filtration systems designed to bring PM2.5 levels down into the safe zone, according to representatives of the developers.

Indoors, Outdoors, Even in the Bathrooms

To develop their data for the buildings surveyed, JLL took spot measurements at several locations in each building, including outside of each tower. Readings taken on low pollution days were discarded, and then indoor readings were compared to outdoor air quality levels.

Perhaps not surprisingly, some of the worst air was found in bathrooms and stairwells, where the capital’s nicotine addicts often sneak a smoke to avoid the chill winds on the sidewalks outside their offices.

And while China does have a plan to upgrade its air quality in the coming years, the current situation may mean that health conscious office workers could be choosing their next job according to ventilation systems as much as salary packages.