The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) and five international associations have formed the Indoor Environmental Quality Global Alliance (IEQ-GA) to promote and advocate for indoor climate and health in buildings.

The new association will serve as a global platform to facilitate the exchange of indoor environmental knowledge and information, promoting related education and research for indoor environmental quality and health in buildings. Its six founding members are associations that represent professionals from Europe, India, and North America who work in different disciplines linked to the indoor environment.

Indoor environmental quality is a multidisciplinary domain involving architects, engineers, and health specialists, among others. Until now, no association has brought together all the stakeholders in the field of indoor environmental quality to work together, exchange knowledge, and advance the cause. AIHA and the other founding members are committed to working together to promote education, research, and knowledge exchange at a global scale; to develop standards, codes, and guidelines; and to advocate for the well-being of the general public in indoor environments worldwide.

The IEQ-GA is inviting interested organizations in the field to become members and join forces to achieve better indoor environment quality in buildings across the world.

The announcement of the IEQ-GA AISBL was made during the 40th Air Infiltration and Ventilation Centre (AIVC) conference, titled "From Energy Crisis to Sustainable Indoor Climate," which was held in Ghent Oct. 15-16. In this alliance, AIHA is represented by Georgi Popov, who was appointed as AIHA director, and Dave Dahstrom, who was appointed as alternate director. At the ceremony, the founding members celebrated with short speeches about the establishment of the association and presented its mission and objectives.

Donald Weekes, president of the IEQ-GA, extended his gratitude to the six founding members that have persevered in their efforts to develop the association: "The work that has been done to create the IEQ-GA has been shared by the members since 2013, and it has resulted in a bond across the world for our members. Now is the time to move forward with this new association to help ensure that people everywhere get the best possible working and living conditions, including clean air, adequate lighting, and a reduction in noise levels. I look forward to a bright future for the IEQ-GA, and to its work with other related professional associations, who I invite to join us in the global effort to improve the lives of all humans."

Kathy Murphy, president of AIHA, noted that supporting the IEQ-GA is in line with AIHA's mission and international agenda: "We are very proud to be founding members of the IEQ-GA. AIHA's vision is a world where all workers are healthy and safe. By addressing indoor environmental quality, we are making important strides towards making this a reality."

Jaap Hogeling, secretary and treasurer of the IEQ-GA, expressed his satisfaction with joining forces globally to support the IEQ-GA's cause: "It is of great importance to have well-defined standards and a high-quality engineering practice to make sure that buildings provide people a healthy indoor climate. Health is a basic human right, and we have to develop, promote, and advocate harmonized standards at a global scale to achieve this."

The founding members of the IEQ-GA are the following:

AiCARR, the Italian Association of Air Conditioning, Ventilation, and Refrigeration, is an active and interconnected community of more than 2,400 members, including designers, university professors, installers and maintenance technicians, manufacturers, public authorities, and students.

AIHA, the American Industrial Hygiene Association, is the premier association of occupational and environmental health and safety professionals. AIHA's 10,000 members play a crucial role on the front lines of worker health and safety every day. Members represent a cross-section of industry, private business, labor, government, and academia.

AIVC, the Air Filtration and Ventilation Center, is a project under the International Energy Agency's Energy in Buildings and Community Systems implementing agreement. With the support of 17 member countries as well as key experts and two associations (REHVA and IBPSA), AIVC offers the building sector, policymakers, and research organizations technical support aimed at better understanding ventilation challenges and optimizing energy-efficient ventilation.

ASHRAE, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers, is a global society that advances human well-being through sustainable technology for the built environment. The society and its more than 50,000 members worldwide focus on building systems, energy efficiency, indoor air quality, refrigeration, and sustainability.

ISHRAE, the Indian Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers, has over 12,000 HVAC&R professionals as members and 10,500 student members. ISHRAE operates in over 40 chapters.

REHVA, the Federation of European Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning, founded in 1963, is an umbrella organization that represents over 120,000 HVAC designers, building services engineers, technicians, and experts across 27 European countries.