Building Environment

Protecting building environments presents many challenges to environmental health practitioners. Maintaining a secure and healthy building environment requires an in-depth knowledge of building components and understanding the vulnerability of these components to contamination.

This section provides resources on protecting building environments as well as general links on improving indoor air quality.

CDC Emergency Preparedness and Response – how to prepare, plan, and respond to healthy building environments after disasters

Terrorism Response – Safeguarding Building Ventilation (CDC National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health [NIOSH])

Guidance for Filtration and Air-Cleaning Systems to Protect Building Environments from Airborne Chemical, Biological, or Radiological Attacks – preventive measures that building owners and managers should use to prepare and protect building air environments
Guidance for Protecting Building Environments from Airborne Chemical, Biological, or Radiological Attacks – short-term actions that building owners and managers can take to protect occupants from a release of contaminants affecting building environments

Links to information from outside CDC

Advice for Safeguarding Buildings Against Chemical or Biological Attack (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)

Guidance for Building Security – guide to reduce the health and safety risks of occupants in buildings subjected to terrorism
Risk Management Guidance for Health, Safety, and Environmental Security Under Extraordinary Incidents

Damage Assessment (Santa Clara County Amateur Radio Emergency Services/Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services) – describes the purpose of disaster assessment and process to complete damage assessment forms

Flood Cleanup (Environmental Protection Agency [EPA]) – general information to help people in flooded areas recover and reduce risks caused by a flood

Indoor Air Quality (Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] Office of Air and Radiation) – guides to reduce human health risks posed by contaminants in indoor environments

Initial Damage Assessment Forms (Florida Division of Emergency Management) – forms and instructions described in Florida’s Handbook for Initial Damage Assessment.

Risk Management Series Publications (Federal Emergency Management Agency [FEMA]) – series of guides to reduce damage to building components and related infrastructure and reduce resultant casualties from disasters

Sphere Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response – project to improve the quality of assistance provided to people affected by disasters and enhance the accountability of the humanitarian system in disaster response

World Health Organization (WHO)