In contrast to outdoor air pollution, which has received significant media attention, interior air pollution remained relatively unknown until the early 2000s. And yet in temperate climates we spend on average 85% of our time in indoor environments – houses, workplaces, public buildings and transportation vehicles – with the majority of this time spent in the home. In all these places we may be exposed to numerous pollutants, the nature of which depends on a number of factors, including the characteristics of the construction, the activities taking place there and the behaviour of individuals (smoking, DIY, painting, etc.). Indoor air quality has been a subject of concern for many years and has now become a major public health issue.

In order to reduce emissions of pollutants at their source, some European countries have different procedures for qualifying building products based on their emission levels in volatile pollutants. These procedures then serve to identify and promote to consumers "low emissivity" building materials and decoration products. In 2006 and 2009, the Agency published and then updated a process for qualifying emissions from building and decoration products, which was useful in developing the French regulations in this area.