Working with BOMA-BC in 2002, Theodor Sterling Associates (TSA) con-ducted an investigative project aimed at assessing airborne particulate levels outside a commercial office building, inside the building and in the air exhausted from the building by the ventilation system (relief air). This project demonstrated that commercial office buildings offer a net reduction in the levels of particulate in the air.
This reduction was possible because of the large amount of outdoor air brought into the building and the high level of filtra-tion offered by the building’s air handling system. This project, and the conclusions made from its results, lead to the deter-mination that commercial office buildings act as "The Lungs of the City".
