The Real Costs of Poor Air in Your Buildings

When people talk about decarbonization, they usually picture smokestacks, factories, or traffic. What often gets missed is what’s happening inside buildings, and for businesses, that gap comes with real costs.

Poor indoor air quality is more than just a health issue. It’s an operational and financial one too. Studies estimate it costs the U.S. economy about $168 billion every year through lost productivity, absenteeism, and higher healthcare costs, according to NoVa Environmental Solutions. Even small investments in better air can lead to big returns. Research from Harvard’s Healthy Buildings program shows that spending as little as $40 per person can deliver productivity gains of up to $7,000 per employee each year.

The reason is simple. Buildings constantly generate and trap gases from everyday operations. Equipment, combustion systems, building materials, and cleaning products all contribute to a steady background load of pollutants. In spaces without enough fresh air, those gases build up.

Since people spend about 90 percent of their time indoors, that exposure adds up quickly. Indoor air quality is starting to show up in the same conversations as carbon management and decarbonization. Large-scale solutions reduce emissions at a global level, but they do not address the air inside the spaces people actually work in. That is where building-level solutions come in.

Technologies like Maple Air’s PürPlasma™ break down harmful gases directly in occupied spaces to improve air quality where it has the most immediate impact.

Why Indoor Air Quality Is More Than Dust and Allergens

Most indoor air conversations focus on dust or pollen, but gases are often the bigger issue and much harder to notice.

Carbon dioxide is a good example. In crowded offices or conference rooms, levels can rise quickly. At around 1,400 ppm, employees can score up to 50 percent lower on cognitive tests compared to well-ventilated spaces at 550 ppm. Many buildings hit these levels without anyone realizing it.

Other gases add to the problem. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from materials and cleaning products, along with combustion gases like carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides, can affect focus, comfort, and health, even at lower levels over time. A 500 μg/m³ increase in VOC concentration reduces cognitive scores by 13 percent.

Because many buildings recirculate air more than they bring in fresh air, these gases can build up throughout the day, which can affect performance. In spaces where CO₂ and VOC levels are kept lower, cognitive scores have been shown to improve by up to 101 percent, according to the Impact Of Green Buildings On Cognitive Function.

For employers, it affects productivity and retention, with 64 percent of U.S. employees saying poor air quality would make them consider leaving their job, according to a study by Work in Mind.

What Is Non-Thermal Plasma and How Does It Break Down Gases?

Non-thermal plasma may sound technical, but the concept is straightforward. Instead of trapping pollutants like a filter, it neutralizes them at an electro level.

When plasma is generated, it creates high electron energy and oxidized molecules that can react with harmful gases and break them down at a molecular level. For example, the plasma field can disrupt the carbon chains in VOCs, turning them into simpler, less harmful compounds like nitrogen, oxygen, and water vapor. Because this process happens as air naturally moves through a space, it works continuously rather than relying on air passing through a single filter.

Maple Air’s PürPlasma™ uses this same approach by creating a stable plasma field inside the HVAC system. As air circulates, the plasma field creates high electron energy and produces oxidized molecules, hydroxyls, and ions that are distributed throughout the space.

A new generation of Maple Air’s PürPlasma™ has been designed to focus on dissociating greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane. These are typically harder to address indoors and are often ignored by standard air purification systems. This technology is deployed through AIRPHX, Climate Solutions, or ACS.

Just as important, the system is designed to operate safely. It meets UL 2998 zero-ozone standards, meaning it does not generate ozone as a byproduct. This new generation of technology actively reduces ozone in the environment.

What Gases Does PürPlasma™ Actually Reduce?

One of the most important questions for any system is what it actually does in real conditions. Maple Air PürPlasma™ is built to target a defined set of indoor gases, supported by third-party lab testing and field data.

These include:

• Carbon monoxide from combustion appliances like furnaces and water heaters
• Nitrogen oxides from heating systems and gas-powered equipment
• VOCs and formaldehyde from materials, furniture, and cleaning products
• Radon, which can seep into buildings and build up over time
• Methane from gas leaks or natural gas appliances
• Carbon dioxide, addressed through ACS technology in occupied spaces
• Ozone, which is reduced rather than produced

Where Plasma Fits in the Bigger Decarbonization Picture

There is a lot of attention on decarbonization technology right now, and most of it focuses on large-scale solutions. Technologies like Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS), enhanced weathering, and blue hydrogen are designed to reduce emissions at an industrial level. They are important, but they operate far upstream from where people actually experience air quality.

Buildings are different. They are where employees work, where customers spend time, and where indoor environments directly impact performance.

Improving indoor air does not replace large-scale carbon strategies, but it does fill a gap they do not address. It brings the focus down to the air inside occupied spaces, where exposure happens every day.

For organizations working toward Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), WELL, or ASHRAE 62.1 standards, indoor air quality is already part of the framework. Managing CO₂, VOCs, and ventilation levels is tied to measurable benchmarks and certifications.

Indoor Air as a Measurable Business and ESG Metric

For facilities managers, sustainability teams, and building owners, indoor air quality is becoming a trackable performance metric.

It touches multiple areas at once:

• OSHA compliance through exposure limits for gases like CO and formaldehyde
• ASHRAE ventilation standards that define acceptable indoor air conditions
• Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting, where building performance and occupant well-being are increasingly linked
• Workforce productivity and retention

Some organizations are starting to treat indoor air as part of a broader carbon management strategy. While it does not replace Scope 1 or Scope 2 emissions tracking, it aligns closely with on-site emissions sources like combustion equipment and ventilation systems.

The business case is becoming clearer. Better air is tied to better performance, lower risk, and stronger employee satisfaction. It is also one of the few areas where improvements can be made quickly without major infrastructure changes.

A Practical Step Toward Cleaner Indoor Air

Decarbonization is a big challenge, but improving indoor air quality is something building owners can act on right away. Cleaner air benefits the people inside every day and ties directly to productivity, safety, and overall operations.

Maple Air’s PürPlasma™ targets the gases that traditional systems often miss.

By treating the air throughout a space instead of just at a filter, it provides continuous, whole-room coverage that matches how real buildings actually work. For organizations focused on performance, compliance, or sustainability, indoor air is one area where measurable action can happen now. See how it could work in your buildings by requesting a demo or reviewing a case study at getmapleair.com.