Air Purification at Zero Incremental Cost:

How Architects and Developers Can Deliver Air Purification at Zero Incremental Cost

For years, air purification has been treated as a “nice to have” - a discretionary upgrade that improves indoor air quality (IAQ) but adds cost to already stretched project budgets. As a result, it is often value-engineered out of new developments, despite its well-documented benefits for occupant health, productivity, energy performance, and long-term asset value.

What many architects and developers still don’t realise is this:

When designed correctly, air purification does not need to increase project cost at all. In fact, when aligned with ASHRAE Standard 62.1’s Indoor Air Quality Procedure (IAQP), it can reduce HVAC capital expenditure, lower energy demand, and accelerate compliance with green building certifications such as LEED, WELL, and Fitwel.

This is not an add-on.It is a design optimisation strategy.

Rethinking Ventilation: From Volume to Performance

Traditional ventilation design relies on the Ventilation Rate Procedure (VRP) - prescribing fixed volumes of outside air based on occupancy and space type. While simple, this approach often leads to:

• Oversized HVAC systems

• Excessive cooling loads

• High energy consumption

• Poor control of indoor contaminants

The Indoor Air Quality Procedure (IAQP) in ASHRAE 62.1 offers a smarter alternative.

Instead of focusing purely on the quantity of outside air, IAQP allows designers to meet indoor air quality requirements by controlling contaminant concentrations through proven technologies - including advanced air purification.

This shift from air volume to air quality performance creates powerful opportunities for both design efficiency and cost reduction.

How IAQP Unlocks Cost Savings

When an independently tested air purification system is integrated at the HVAC design stage, IAQP enables:

• Significant reduction in required outside air (often ~40–50%)

• Lower cooling demand, especially in hot climates

• Downsized HVAC equipment, including:

  • Fresh Air Handling Units (FAHUs)

  • Chillers

  • Ductwork

  • Plant room space

These reductions translate directly into capital cost savings delivering Air Purification at Zero Incremental Cost.

In many projects, the HVAC downsizing savings offset - or exceed - the cost of the air purification system itself, resulting in:

Zero or near-zero incremental cost for clean indoor air

Why This Matters Even More in Hot-Climate Regions

In regions such as the GCC and MENA, the benefits are amplified:

• Outside air is hot, dusty, and energy-intensive to condition

• Cooling accounts for the majority of building energy use

• Ventilation is one of the most expensive loads in the HVAC system

Reducing outside air safely and compliantly is one of the fastest ways to cut both CapEx and OpEx - while still delivering healthier indoor environments.

Beyond Cost: The Added Value of Clean Indoor Air

Once the capital cost barrier is removed, the benefits of air purification become impossible to ignore:

🌿 Sustainability & Green Certifications

Air purification aligned with IAQP supports:

• LEED (Indoor Environmental Quality, Energy & Atmosphere)

• WELL (Air, Health & Comfort concepts)

• Fitwel (Occupant health and wellbeing)

⚡ Energy & Carbon Reduction

• Typical outcomes include ~10–15% reduction in total building energy

• Lower carbon emissions from day one

• Direct contribution to Net Zero strategies

🧠 Occupant Health, Productivity & Value

• Reduced exposure to pathogens, VOCs, particulates, and allergens

• Lower absenteeism

• Improved cognitive performance and comfort

• Higher tenant satisfaction and asset desirability

These benefits are incremental - delivered on top of the CapEx savings.

A Shift in Design Thinking: Design Boldly

The key takeaway for architects and developers is simple:

Air purification should not be budgeted as an upgrade. It should be designed as an enabler.

When integrated early and paired with ASHRAE 62.1 IAQP:

• Clean air becomes part of the core HVAC strategy

• Equipment sizes shrink

• Energy use falls

• Certification pathways simplify

• Project economics improve

The Bottom Line

Clean indoor air no longer needs a premium.

By embracing performance-based ventilation design and integrating proven air purification technologies from the outset, architects and developers can:

• Deliver healthier buildings

• Reduce HVAC capital costs

• Lower operational energy use

• Achieve LEED, WELL, and Fitwel goals

• And do it without increasing project budgets

In today’s market, that isn’t just good design - it’s smart development.