In many ‘smart’ buildings, energy, water, and waste are carefully accounted for. But talk to the people inside, and you hear a different story: heavy air, humidity complaints, stuffy meetings, even equipment sweating in server and plant rooms.
By Wynand Deyzel, commercial sales manager at Solenco
People spend up to 90% of their time indoors, yet air is often treated as an afterthought. If the air is wrong, the building is wrong. Indoor air quality (IAQ) is not a nice-to-have. It belongs on the drawings from day one, alongside the structure and the services.
Over the past two decades in South Africa’s air-treatment sector, I have seen too many projects overlook IAQ until it becomes an expensive retrofit. Research in South Africa’s Green Star–rated buildings also showed that occupants were dissatisfied with ventilation and reported symptoms directly linked to IAQ, such as fatigue, headaches, and colds.
According to Dr Stephanie Taylor, infection control consultant at Harvard Medical School, there is also overwhelming scientific evidence that a mid-range air humidity of 40% to 60% Relative Humidity (RH) has significant benefits for human health – in turn having an impact on staff productivity and absenteeism.
Where air fits in the green equation
Across commercial and mixed-use projects, developers are measured against green standards such as EDGE, LEED, and Green Star SA. These tools increasingly reward strategies that treat air as a designed system, not a leftover problem. Global benchmarks like the WELL Building Standard already measure air as rigorously as energy or water, and South Africa is moving in that direction.
“Green” is not automatically “healthy” unless air quality is designed in from the start.
Air treatment should be seen as part of the smart-infrastructure toolkit. It reduces energy waste by helping HVAC systems operate efficiently, protects health in dense urban and industrial contexts, and supports sectors that rely on strict environmental control, all while contributing to the bottom line through lower energy costs, fewer maintenance issues, and reduced absenteeism.
Designing with air in mind
On projects that perform well, teams treat air as a system with clear targets and balanced tools:
- Manage moisture to protect people, finishes, and equipment.
- Purify and filter air according to the environment.
- Balance fresh air supply with smart controls.
- Design for efficiency, not oversized systems.
In storage and industrial environments, high-capacity inverter-class dehumidifiers protect assets and standards while keeping electricity use under control. In offices, shops, and smart buildings, compact wall-or-ceiling mounted humidifiers with intuitive and/or Wi-Fi app control and scheduling stabilise comfort and help reduce operational overheads by avoiding unnecessary HVAC strain.
What this means for different sectors
In construction and urban housing, old models relied on fans and energy-intensive HVAC systems that were costly to run and hard to maintain. Smarter codes integrate ventilation, filtration, dehumidification and humidification to reduce waste, shield residents from urban pollution, and enhance comfort – clear benefits for developers who want to avoid costly retrofits and reduce long-term operating expenses.
In agriculture and horticulture, controlled humidity prevents mould and pests in greenhouses and vertical farms, while supporting yield and reducing the need for water and chemicals. The same applies in pharmaceutical production, where cleanroom-grade air underpins product safety, regulatory compliance, and minimises costly production errors.
Getting it right
Incorporating air quality costs the least when teams plan for it from the concept stage. That said, modern plug-and-play solutions like the innovative Keri WiFi Wall-Mounted Ultrasonic Humidifier allow existing spaces to be upgraded with minimal disruption, giving building owners a practical way to fix IAQ problems now.
The upside of acting is immediate: healthier, more productive occupants, HVAC systems performing within design parameters, and reduced energy and maintenance costs. Buildings earn their sustainability story not through plaques or ratings alone, but through lived experience.
As Dr Dickerman of Harvard Medical School states, “we shape our buildings, then they kill us!” So whether you’re planning new or upgrading old, the principle holds: if air isn’t designed in, the building isn’t smart – it’s just expensive.