The US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Building Air Quality Action Plan (EPA publication number 402-K-98-00 1) is available free of charge from the EPA, or can be downloaded from the EPA website at

http://www.epa.gov/iedweb00/base/actionpl.html

The publication can be beneficial to commercial property managers because it is written specifically for them. Harvested from hands-on experiences of staff at the EPA and the National Institute of Occupation Safety and Health (NIOSH), the plan provides a step-by-step written process to follow to improve IAQ.

It includes a 6-page checklist. Critical components include developing a maintenance plan, for HVAC operations, housekeeping, preventive maintenance, unscheduled maintenance; and how to manage processes with potentially significant pollutant sources such as renovation, painting, pest control, shipping and receiving, and smoking.