| HEALTHY BUILDING INTERNATIONAL : DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION AND YOUR PREMISESEmployers and service providers are required by law to make proper provision for disabled people. Do your buildings meet requirements?
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 introduced new measures aimed at ending the discrimination that disabled people face in their daily lives. Since 1996, any company with over 15 employees has been required to take reasonable steps to accommodate the disabled. This is known as “the duty of reasonable adjustment”.
From October 1999, this same duty has applied to organisations providing goods, facilities and services to the public and those selling, letting and managing premises.
Healthy Buildings International advises many organisations on the adjustments required. In addition, we can prepare them for the year 2004, when companies will be further compelled to modify their premises. The legal microscope will be focused on anything that affects ease of movement, even on fixtures, fittings and furniture.
Healthy Buildings International Disability Access Audits cover everything from access to egress in emergency, taking in reception areas, stairs, lifts, lighting, even signs and controls. The Audit report is often the first stage of a rolling programme of works designed to help clients comply with the law at an affordable price.
Please contact David Heslop at Healthy Buildings International for further clarification and information on the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and advice on Disability Access Audits.
CABLE AND WIRELESS CALLS ON HEALTHY BUILDINGS INTERNATIONALHealthy Buildings International is pleased to announce a recent partnership agreement with communications giant Cable and Wireless. This entails carrying out air and water quality management throughout their key-operations buildings.
An Healthy Buildings International project team is currently conducting a rolling programme of visits to inspect air-handling systems, provide quantitative analysis of indoor air quality,identify legionella risk systems in line with HS(G) 70, take water samples and produce comprehensive maintenance manuals and logbooks.
Says John Middleton, Healthy Buildings International ’s Operations Director: “We have received very positive support and feedback throughout our investigations. This is an excellent measure of the impact we are having on both the buildings and Cable and Wireless staff.” WORLD FIRST HEALTHY BUILDINGS INTERNATIONAL Claire Vitel was one of the first people in the world to graduate from university with a Masters Degree in Intelligent Buildings. Claire, an experienced member of the Healthy Buildings International team, studied for this unique degree at Reading as part of a Continual Development Programme.
Her studies covered intelligent buildings, sustainability architecture, IT and communications, financial analysis and the many professions involved in buildings, all of which will bring Healthy Buildings International and our clients a considerable degree of expertise. Look out for Claire’s articles, appearing shortly in industry journals. HEALTHY BUILDINGS INTERNATIONAL : FIVE YEAR CONTRACT WITH GSAIn February, Healthy Buildings International was awarded a 5-year global contract by the US General Services Administration (GSA). This multiple award contract was negotiated through the Environmental Advisory Services in Washington State after a rigorous 8-month qualification process. To date, Healthy Buildings International is the only company on GSA’s schedule that specialises in the study and consultation of indoor air quality.
The contract allows Healthy Buildings International to sell both Pro-active IAQ monitoring and inspection services and innovative technological and design services to GSA procurement and building managers. When a company is “On Schedule” GSA managers do not require competitive bids, because they know that every qualifying contractor has been through a strict investigation process covering organisational and financial stability, industry reputation and technical competency.
The Public Building Service (PBS) is the GSA arm that manages all GSA owned and leased real estate, with properties in all 50 US states, all US territories and numerous countries with US embassies, chanceries and military bases.
This adds up to over 8,000 buildings and over 350 million square feet of space. The PBS has a stated goal to be the best public real estate organisation in the world, and recognises that Pro-active IAQ investigations are a vital step in accomplishing that goal.
In addition, the PBS wishes to be viewed as “the best in class” when it comes to office facilities both inside and outside the Government. With Healthy Buildings International, the organisation has an energetic partner to meet its objectives. We are thoroughly looking forward to the next 5 years and will keep readers posted with new developments.
The Federal Supply Schedule contract number is: GS-IOF-0125K, SIN-2 for Pro-active Indoor Air Quality Inspection and Monitoring. HEALTHY BUILDINGS INTERNATIONAL : THE FACTS CAN MAKE YOU ILLPart of the requirement for Claire Vitel’s, of Healthy Buildings Internationa, MSc qualification was to complete a unique piece of study. What better start than to utilise Healthy Buildings International’s unique database of building health information? This concentrated on buildings monitored for the first time, and the main findings are summarised here.
Research data was gathered from 183 buildings over a period of 6 years and it was found that only 15% reached optimum environmental conditions. Why were so many buildings unhealthy? Over half of those studied had little or no air entering the property which meant an internal buildup of pollutants. Over a third of all filtration systems were either inadequate for the job, poorly fitted or heavily laden with dirt. Just under half of all systems surveyed (air handling units, condensate trays and duct work) were contaminated. Microbial contamination, which constitutes the greatest risk to health,was found in just under half of the buildings surveyed.
The majority of Healthy Buildings International clients now adopt a pro-active approach and have long ago resolved serious indoor environmental problems.
For further details of any of our services, please contact Healthy Buildings International at any of our offices as shown below.
Healthy Buildings International Ltd
(UK Head Office)
229 Hyde End Road
Spencers Wood
Berkshire RG7 1BU
United Kingdom
Tel: (0118) 988 9999
Fax: (0118) 988 5599
email: info@hbi.co.uk
directions: download
map: multimap
| Healthy Buildings International
(UK North)
Monckton Road
Wakefield
Yorkshire WF2 7AS
United Kingdom
Tel: (01924) 888 166
Fax: (01924) 332 334
email: info@hbi.co.uk directions: download
map: multimap | Healthy Buildings International Ireland
(Belfast)
Unit 16
Laganside Studios
Ravenhill Road
Belfast BT6 8AW
Tel: (028)90 738777
Fax: (028)90 732777
email: info@hbi.ie
www: http://www.hbi.ie
| Healthy Buildings International
(Scotland)
Suite 220
Claymore House
145 Kilmarnock Road
Glasgow G41 3JA
United Kingdom
Tel: (0141) 571 2967
Fax: (0141) 6327726
email: info@hbi.co.uk | Healthy Buildings International
USA Headquarters
9401 Mathy Drive
Fairfax, Virginia 22031-5311
Tel: (703) 323 4400
Fax: (703) 323 4440
email: hbi@hbiamerica.com
www: http://www.hbiamerica.com | Healthy Buildings International
USA Western Region
25 Mauchly, Suite 314
Irvine, CA 92618
Tel: (949) 450 1111
Fax: (949) 450 1120
email: hbiwest@hbiamerica.com
www: http://www.hbiamerica.com
| Healthy Buildings International
USA Mid Atlantic Region
1055 Parsippany Boulevard,
Suite 102
Parsippany, NJ 07054
Tel: (973) 394 1330
Fax: (973) 394 1331
email: hbiatlantic@hbiamerica.com
www: http://www.hbiamerica.com | Healthy Buildings International
USA New England Region
3 Baldwin Green Common
Suite 201
Woburn, Massachusetts 01801
Tel: (781) 932 6800
Fax: (781) 932 5995
email: dtyler@hbiamerica.com
www: http://www.hbiamerica.com
| Healthy Buildings International
Australia
7/33 Ryde Road
Pymble NSW 2073
Australia
Tel: (02) 9880 2744
Fax: (02) 9880 2766
email: hbi@hbi.com.au
www : http://www.hbi.com.au | Healthy Buildings International
Dublin
Unit 10/11 Santry Hall Industrial Estate
Dublin 9
Ireland
Tel: 00353 1 8623794
Fax: 00353 1 8621680
email: info@hbi.ie
www: http://www.hbi.ie
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