The Consequences of Office Air Quality
The air in large cities is far from having the usual cleanliness of rural and natural areas. And that's a problem. After all, breathing poor-quality air increases the likelihood of asthma attacks by almost 7%, raises the risk of cardiovascular diseases by almost 7%, and raises the probability of hospitalization by up to 4%. That's why the World Health Organization (WHO) sets maximum levels of air pollutants for urban environments. The bad news? In cities, these levels are often exceeded by a significant margin. The good news? At Colonial, we are working to create solutions.
High-efficiency filters to purify indoor air in buildings
Many of the actions we take at Colonial, such as hiring, acquisition, rehabilitation, and construction, are aimed at increasing the sustainability of office buildings and, in turn, protecting the environment. However, our ethical policy is also motivated by a purely human consideration: people deserve to work in friendly environments that do not pose a risk to their health. With this in mind, at Colonial, we collaborate with the Aire Limpio group of companies, which has been designing cutting-edge devices since 1999 to improve indoor air quality and provide our assets with a healthy environment.
Specifically, all the buildings in our portfolio located in Madrid and Barcelona, the two largest cities in the country and two of the worst in terms of environmental pollution in comparative analyses, have active polarization systems that filter a significant portion of outdoor air particles, thereby purifying indoor air for users to breathe without compromising their health. And the numbers speak for themselves: thanks to these technologies, the indoor air in our buildings is ten times healthier than the air in large cities, with between two and four micrograms of particles per cubic meter compared to 22 micrograms.
Effects of our air purification technologies on users
Among the particles present in city air, some are particularly harmful to human health, such as nitrogen oxide particles, which reduce the oxygenation of various body tissues. In this regard, the Aire Limpio filters we implement in our assets reduce the quantity of these particles from 28.08 micrograms per cubic meter, six times higher than the WHO's recommended level, to between two and three micrograms. This change has a clear impact on the health of users: a 93% reduction in the risk of asthma, an 83% reduction in the risk of cardiovascular problems, and a 95% reduction in the risk of hospitalization.
But that's not all: in addition to reducing diseases, this air purification also has an impact on the mood and concentration levels of workers in our office buildings. These factors, in turn, make them ideal places for productivity and creativity. In other words, air purification protects the planet, people, and businesses by enhancing their performance. Colonial is synonymous with a human-centric approach, concern for people. That's why in our assets, people breathe air of the same quality as in the Picos de Europa or the Pyrenees. We cannot imagine any other stage.
