Office tenants in Detroit, Southfield, and Troy are still asking about indoor air quality in 2026, and the landlords who answer with documented test results are winning renewals over the ones who say the filters are fine. Samco Facilities Maintenance provides IAQ testing, MERV 13 filter upgrades, and CO2 monitoring installation for Class A and Class B office buildings across Southeast Michigan. Call (734) 838-6300 to schedule a building assessment.
Why Office IAQ Questions Did Not Go Away After the Pandemic
Property managers assumed tenant IAQ concerns would fade once the pandemic receded. They did not fade. What changed is the source of the questions. In 2020, tenants asked about virus transmission. In 2026, they ask about productivity, sick days, and whether the HVAC system can support a hybrid workforce that fills the building unevenly depending on the day.
Large tenants in Wayne County and Oakland County now include IAQ requirements in lease renewals. Some ask for MERV 13 filter documentation. Others ask for CO2 readings from occupied floors during peak hours. A few ask for third-party test reports on particulate matter, VOCs, and relative humidity. These requests are not unreasonable, and building owners who cannot answer them are at a disadvantage in a market where office vacancy rates remain elevated and every renewal is competitive.
The practical problem is that most office building HVAC systems were not designed with IAQ monitoring in mind. A rooftop unit designed for a 1998 code minimum is sized for thermal load, not ventilation rate. Adding MERV 13 filters to a system designed for MERV 8 increases static pressure in ways that can reduce airflow to the point where the building fails to meet ASHRAE 62.1 minimum ventilation rates. Upgrading filters without checking the system first solves the tenant’s question and creates a different problem.
The IAQ Items Tenants Actually Ask About
A commercial property manager in Southfield recently shared a tenant renewal checklist that included eleven IAQ line items. Most of them fell into four categories, and those four categories are consistent across Detroit-area commercial office portfolios.
The first is filtration. Tenants want MERV 13 or higher, and they want documentation that the system can handle that filter rating without degrading airflow. The second is ventilation. CO2 readings above 1,100 ppm in occupied spaces indicate inadequate fresh air, and tenants with healthcare or professional services backgrounds know that number. The third is humidity. Relative humidity below 30 percent causes dry eyes, sore throats, and increased static electricity, which affects electronics. Relative humidity above 60 percent promotes mold growth. Office buildings in Southeast Michigan run outside of that range frequently in both directions because Great Lakes climate swings are wide. The fourth is particulate matter. PM2.5 readings are relevant to anyone with respiratory sensitivities, and Detroit sits in an airshed that gets elevated particulate events from industrial activity in Wayne County and from vehicle traffic on I-94, I-96, and I-75.
Here is what actually shows up during IAQ assessments in Detroit office buildings. The CO2 sensor installed in 2019 to satisfy a WELL certification pre-check is now reading three years out of calibration. The MERV 13 filters were installed in 2021 and nobody checked whether the AHU fan could pull air through them at the rated CFM. Airflow dropped by 18 percent. The building passed every filter specification the tenant asked for and failed to meet ASHRAE 62.1 at the same time. The tenant does not know that yet, but they will figure it out the next time their occupational health consultant walks the floor.
The Michigan Angle: Detroit Downtown Offices and Suburban Class A
Detroit’s commercial office market breaks into two distinct zones with different IAQ challenges. Downtown towers in the Central Business District and Midtown deal with urban air quality: particulate events from vehicle traffic, exhaust infiltration at loading docks, and older building envelopes that leak outdoor air into occupied floors in ways that bypass filtration entirely.
Suburban Class A buildings in Southfield, Troy, Novi, and Ann Arbor deal with different problems. Many of those buildings were built in the 1990s with VAV systems that were designed for 100 percent occupancy. Hybrid work patterns mean floors run at 30 to 50 percent occupancy on any given day. A VAV system that does not have CO2 demand-controlled ventilation will flood a half-empty floor with conditioned air and still fail to meet minimum ventilation per person because the control logic does not know how many people are in the space.
DTE commercial rate structures make the energy cost of over-ventilation a real budget line item. A 150,000 square foot Class A building in Troy that runs its ventilation at design capacity for a floor that is half empty is spending roughly $18,000 per year more on conditioning than it needs to. Demand-controlled ventilation with CO2 sensors pays back that premium in three to four years. That is the conversation a landlord can have with a tenant who asks about ventilation upgrades: the fix saves money, and the documentation satisfies the renewal checklist at the same time.
The Reporting Package That Answers Tenant Questions Without Arguments
The goal of an IAQ assessment is not a perfect score. The goal is a documented baseline and a written remediation plan for any gaps. A reporting package that satisfies tenant questions in a lease renewal context includes the following items:
- Filtration documentation. Current filter rating, fan curve data showing static pressure versus airflow at that filter rating, and confirmation that design airflow is maintained at MERV 13 or the rated filter level.
- CO2 readings by floor and zone. Taken during a representative occupied period (Tuesday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. is standard). Report the peak reading and the average, not just a single sample.
- Relative humidity readings. Daily min and max over a 30-day period. If readings fall outside 30 to 60 percent, note the dates and the probable cause (outdoor air damper position, occupancy pattern, or equipment failure).
- PM2.5 spot test. A single-day particle count at representative interior locations and one outdoor reference point. This does not need to be a full air quality study. It needs to be a defensible number.
- ASHRAE 62.1 compliance confirmation. A written statement from a qualified technician that the system meets minimum outdoor air requirements at current occupancy levels. If it does not, note what modification is required and the estimated cost.
- Remediation schedule. Any gap found during testing gets a remediation line item with a projected completion date and a responsible party. A landlord who identifies a gap and schedules a fix is in a stronger negotiating position than a landlord who discovers the gap with the tenant in the room.
How Samco Runs IAQ Testing and Upgrades
Samco Facilities Maintenance provides IAQ assessments, filter upgrades, CO2 sensor installation, and ventilation balancing for commercial office buildings across Wayne County, Oakland County, Washtenaw County, and Macomb County. We have worked with property managers in Southeast Michigan since 1997, and our technicians hold EPA 608 Universal Certification and NATE certification. We carry a BBB A+ rating.
Our IAQ assessment process starts with a mechanical review: filter rating versus fan curve, economizer position, and outdoor air damper calibration. We then deploy calibrated CO2 and humidity loggers for a representative occupied week and return with a written report that includes readings by floor, a comparison to ASHRAE 62.1 minimums, and a remediation scope if one is needed. We do not recommend upgrades that the system cannot support without a fan or duct modification. If a MERV 13 upgrade requires a fan motor change, we say that in the report and price it separately so the property manager can make an informed decision. A property manager in Ann Arbor we have served since 2008 uses our quarterly IAQ summary as part of their tenant communication package. The format has not needed to change since we built it together. Call (734) 838-6300 or review our commercial HVAC services and preventive maintenance programs to see how IAQ fits into a full-service agreement.
Frequently Asked Questions
What IAQ tests should a commercial landlord run?
Start with CO2 readings by floor during peak occupancy, relative humidity over a 30-day period, a PM2.5 spot test, and a filtration documentation audit showing that your MERV rating is supported by the system’s fan curve. Those four items answer most tenant questions and cover the ASHRAE 62.1 compliance question a sophisticated tenant will eventually ask.
Are MERV 13 filters mandatory in Michigan office buildings?
Michigan Mechanical Code does not mandate MERV 13 for standard office occupancies. ASHRAE 62.1 sets minimum ventilation rates but not filter efficiency. MERV 13 is a market expectation driven by tenant requests and LEED or WELL certification requirements. The practical issue is whether your system can pull air through a MERV 13 filter at rated airflow. Many cannot without a fan motor upgrade.
How do CO2 sensors change an office HVAC strategy?
CO2 sensors feed a demand-controlled ventilation sequence that opens outdoor air dampers when occupancy rises and closes them when occupancy drops. For a hybrid-schedule office running at 40 to 60 percent occupancy most days, DCV cuts conditioning costs by 15 to 25 percent while keeping CO2 below 1,000 ppm in occupied zones. The sensor pays for itself in energy savings within two to three years.
Can Samco run IAQ testing across multi-tenant portfolios?
Yes. Samco Facilities Maintenance handles multi-building commercial portfolios across Southeast Michigan. We build a standardized reporting template across all properties in a portfolio so the data is comparable building to building. Property managers use that data for tenant reporting, lease renewals, and capital planning. Portfolio assessments can be scheduled to run across all properties within a single quarter.
Ready to Answer IAQ Questions With Data?
If your office building is facing tenant IAQ questions at renewal and you do not have documented test results to back your answers, Samco Facilities Maintenance can run the assessment, identify any gaps, and deliver a report you can put in front of a tenant or a broker. We serve commercial property managers across Southeast Michigan from our Livonia, MI headquarters, with coverage across Wayne County, Oakland County, Macomb County, and Washtenaw County. Call (734) 838-6300 or visit our contact page to schedule an assessment. You can also review our full service lineup to see how IAQ testing fits into a broader facility maintenance program.