The American Indoor Air Quality Council has announced that its certification exams comply with consensus standards published by the American Educational Research Association (AERA), the American Psychological Association (APA) and the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME).

Published as Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (1999), the national standards describe accepted procedures for test construction, evaluation and documentation as well as policies for ensuring fairness, reliability and validity.

As the first certifying body in indoor air quality to declare compliance with these standards, the IAQ Council continues to break new ground in the field.

"We remain committed to increasing the credibility of IAQ Council certifications at every opportunity," said Charlie Wiles, IAQ Council executive director. "We believe that conformity to consensus standards is a powerful way to accomplish this goal."

This announcement comes on the heels of the IAQ Council's declaration of compliance with international (ISO) standards for certification program operation. Wiles said that for the indoor air quality industry, standard compliance is more important now than ever.

"Our industry is coming of age," he said. "As we lead it into compliance with national and international standards we will see indoor air quality take its place beside industrial hygiene and environmental engineering as top tier industries."