Ventilation Task Force

Philip Morris convened its Worldwide Ventilation Task Force in December, 1997 with the mission of encouraging business owners to invest in improved ventilation systems for their buildings to help decrease pressure to enact smoking bans and preserve smoking areas in workplaces and public places. Philip Morris described the task force's mission as:

"Identify, demonstrate and support applications of engineering principles and ventilation technologies to provide and promote acceptable IAQ [indoor air quality] and facilitate accommodation in public settings."

The Ventilation Task Force was created to support PM's effort to spread its Accommodation Program world wide. PM first rolled out the Accommodation Program in the United States to help encourage businesses to create or keep existing smoking areas. The Accommodation Program was PM's effort to preserve smoking in public places and deal with increasing public concern about the health effects of secondhand smoke on nonsmokers. One of the activities of the Task Force was to "build and nurture networks of [ventilation] technical professionals that support indoor environmental quality and promote accommodation." PM sought to ally with ventilation equipment vendors and help them boost their business by promoting ventilation as the best alternative to smoking bans.

The ultimate job of the Task Force was to stave off smoking bans worldwide.

The task force was overseen by Philip Morris Worldwide Regulatory Affairs.

Ventilation Task Force Members

 * Deborah Becker
 * Manuel "Manny" C. Bourlas
 * Harold Burnley
 * Mary Pottorff
 * Mayada Logue
 * Matthew Winokur
 * Mark Berlind (for legal)
 * Richard Carchman
 * Ted Sanders
 * Mathias Schorp
 * Peter Lipowicz
 * Debbie Koller
 * Jay Moore
 * David E. R. Dangoor
 * Bruce Davies
 * Jean Jacques Piade
 * Helmut Reif
 * Roger Walk

Related SourceWatch resources

 * Tobacco industry manipulation of the hospitality industry to maintain smoking in public places
 * Tobacco industry front groups
 * Clean indoor air/ventilation
 * Philip Morris Corporate Affairs
 * Healthy Buildings International
 * ACVA Atlantic
 * Gray Robertson