Savanta, a full-service research and insight consultancy agency, has released key findings from a North American survey, which evaluated participants’ perceptions of the safety of indoor air and water quality across a variety of building typologies. The survey of 1,165 participants, ages 18 and over across the U.S. and Canada, found that 73% of North Americans do not consider the indoor air and water in office, condominiums and hotel buildings to be safe.
The release of survey findings reiterates concerns around one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century: Sick Building Syndrome, and according to the World Health Organization (WHO), 40% of buildings in North America are sick.
Highlights of the survey:
General
- Less than 30% of North Americans feel indoor air and water quality is comfortably safe in office, condominium and hotel buildings.
- More than half (51%) of North Americans are concerned about water quality reports and their ability to reduce water-related health worries.
- Almost three-fourths (74%) of North Americans would feel safe entering air quality-certified or air quality-rated buildings.
- North Americans, on average, are open to paying roughly $9.50 per day for the indoor air and water quality maintenance of the hotel room they are staying in.
Hotels
- Only 27% of respondents perceive the indoor air quality in hotel buildings to be extremely or very safe.
- Only 32% of respondents perceive the indoor water quality in hotel buildings to be extremely or very safe.
“As we emerge from the pandemic, many North Americans are thinking about the air and water quality of their indoor environments, and—based on the survey findings—are willing to put more money behind solutions if it means they can protect their mental and physical health,” said Gil D. Blutrich, founder/president, Clear Inc., with whom Savanta conducted the survey. “With a background in real estate, this is a public health and safety issue that I recognized long before the pandemic and, through Clear, am trying to address for the benefit of our society. The findings from our recent survey with Savanta are eye-opening, especially the fact that a majority of North Americans do not currently feel that their office, condo and hotel building environments are safe. Each of us are impacted by indoor air and water quality—it’s clear that this is an issue that needs to be addressed head-on.”