Underground parking garages have become much more common in urban areas where aboveground real estate is at a premium. However, one of the problems with these garages is carbon monoxide, which builds up in the garages as cars drive through. If you manage an underground garage, here’s how to improve the air quality.

Why Air Quality Matters

Cars produce carbon monoxide (CO), which is a gas poisonous to humans. At 70 parts per million, people start to feel the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning, which can include headaches, tiredness, and dizziness as the brain begins to receive less oxygen. Improving the air quality of your parking garage protects you, your guests, and your staff from carbon monoxide’s dangerous effects.

Good Ventilation

This is probably the most important way to improve the air quality in your garage. Ventilation allows the carbon monoxide and other harmful gases that cars produce to escape the garage into the air above, thereby reducing dangerous buildups. Some of the newest ventilation systems use multiple kinds of impulse fans to increase air efficiency in ventilation systems.

Discourage Idling

Signage can remind drivers not to idle their cars in your underground garage, which is another common contributor to carbon monoxide buildup. You can further discourage idling by creating a separate idling zone above ground, hiring security to enforce no-idling policies, and imposing fines for idling longer than a couple of minutes. Often, people don’t realize they’ve been idling and proper communication can remind them to stop.

Use Gas Detectors

To keep better tabs on the air quality underground, install a carbon monoxide detector for parking garages. These detectors will alert you to dangerous buildups of harmful gases so you can immediately seek a solution. At TG Technical Services, our parking garage detectors make it easy for you to keep your parking garage safe. Many of our gas detectors provide readings for multiple gases, making them a cost-effective investment.

We hope this guide to improving the air inside underground parking garages helps you increase the safety of your garage. Follow these steps today to stay informed so you can help drivers and staff have the best experience possible.