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PubMed1991

An engineering approach to controlling indoor air quality.

Evidence is accumulating that indicates air quality problems in residential and commercial buildings are nearly always associated with inadequacies in building design and methods of operation. Thus, the very systems depended on to control the indoor environment can become indirect sources of contamination if diligence is not exercised at each stage of a building's life: a) planning and design, b) construction and commissioning, c) operation, and d) demolition or renovation. In this paper, an engineering perspective is presented in which the existing building stock is characterized in terms of its environmental performance. Preliminary data indicate that 20 to 30% of the existing buildings have sufficient problems to manifest as sick-building syndrome or building-related illness, while another 10 to 20% may have undetected problems. Thus, only about 50 to 70% of the existing buildings qualify as healthy buildings. Two methods and three mechanisms of control are described to achieve "acceptable" indoor air quality: source control and exposure control. If sources cannot be removed, some level of occupant exposure will result. To control exposures with acceptable values, the primary sensory receptors of the occupants (i.e., thermal, ocular, auditory, and olfactory) cannot be excessively stimulated. The three exposure control mechanisms are conduction, radiation, and convection. To achieve acceptable occupant responses, it is often practical to integrate the mechanisms of radiation and convection in heating, ventilating, and air conditioning systems that are designed to provide acceptable thermal, acoustic, and air quality conditions within occupied spaces.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Air Conditioning↗
PubMed1991

Sick-building syndrome.

The sick-building syndrome (SBS) is defined as the occurrence of an excessive number of subjective complaints by the occupants of a building. These complaints include headache, irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, lethargy, inability to concentrate, objectionable odors, and less frequently, nausea, dizziness, chest tightness, etc. These complaints will always be reported by a fraction of the occupants of any building if a questionnaire is administered that asks the respondent to recall any subjective symptoms they remember having had in the last 2 weeks or or over some period of time. It is often considered that SBS symptom reports have a minimum prevalence of about 15 to 20% for a 2-week recall period. SBS symptoms reported by 30% or more of occupants are indicative of conditions in the building environment that warrant attention. It is not often that a clear, single cause is responsible for the excess symptom reports. The following factors, often in combinations, are seen to contribute to SBS: outdoor air supply that is inadequate, ventilation distribution or effectiveness that is inadequate, the presence of temporary or long-term sources of contaminants such as tobacco smoke, adhesives, composite materials such as chipboard, and the growth of microorganisms in the HVAC equipment or in carpets or other furnishings. Depending on which causes contribute, the condition may be intermittent or even temporary. Psychosocial factors such as labor-management relations and satisfaction or dissatisfaction with other factors in the work environment can have a profound influence on the level of response of the occupants to their environment. Although hard data are difficult to collect, it is likely that productivity in the office environment is sensitive to conditions causing SBS.

Air Pollution, Indoor↗
PubMed1998

Experimental studies of subjective response to road traffic-induced building vibration.

The road traffic-induced building vibration was recorded continuously for 24 hr in three orthogonal axes outside and inside the building. Several alternative objective methods of quantifying the severity of exposures to whole-body road traffic-induced building vibration are used. The relationship between the results of all objective evaluation methods of vibration-induced by road traffic and the subjective responses to building vibration are compared. It was conducted that the ISO 2631-2 z-axis frequency weighting combined with a measure of vibration dose value (VDV = [integral of a4(t) dt)]1/4 may use a practicable objective evaluation procedure in buildings than L10 percentile vibration levels. It was also cleared that the L10 percentile vibration levels at the ground boundary of the regulation law of Japan Environmental Agency must be low levels.

Building Codes↗
PubMed1998

Evaluation of whole-body road traffic vibration in building.

Level fluctuating vibration has been evaluated by the cumulative index L10, but some investigators suggest that the L10 cannot represent an adverse comment on vibration. In order to clarify the compliant, various factors involving vibration need to be analysed together by statistical methods, for instance factor analysis or quantum theory. The authors investigated the relationship between an evaluation index and human sensation of vibration in a subjective experiment in a wooden house. The subjects were exposed to vertical road traffic vibration reproduced with an electrodynamic vibrator placed near the house. The range of vibration levels at surfaces in contact with the subjects were from 50dB to 70dB in root mean square of frequency weighted acceleration level, i.e. the vibration level. Numbers assigned by the subjects and evaluation indices of the vibration level were analysed by applying the Stevens power law. The results showed that L10 or Leq (55) could become an effective index for the assessment of subjective perception of level fluctuating vibration in a wooden house.

Acceleration↗
PubMed1989

Influence of personal characteristics, job-related factors and psychosocial factors on the sick building syndrome. Danish Indoor Climate Study Group.

The influence of personal characteristics, life-style, job-related factors, and psychosocial work factors on symptoms of the sick building syndrome was investigated in Greater Copenhagen, Denmark. The buildings were not characterized beforehand as "sick" or "healthy." Of the 4369 employees sent a questionnaire, 3507 returned them. Multivariate logistic regression analyses of the multifactorial effects on the prevalence of work-related mucosal irritation and work-related general symptoms among the office workers showed that sex, job category, work functions (handling of carbonless paper, photocopying, work at video display terminals), psychosocial factors of work (dissatisfaction with superiors or colleagues and quantity of work inhibiting job satisfaction) were associated with work-related mucosal irritation and work-related general symptoms, but these factors could not account for the differences between the buildings as to the prevalence of the symptoms. The building factor (i.e., the indoor climate) was strongly associated with the prevalence of the symptoms.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Home-like architectural features of residential environments.

Adults who had no experience in the area of mental retardation viewed slides of residential settings, five providing housing for people with mental retardation, and rated their "home-likeness" (1 = home-like, 5 = institutional). Of 55 two-way comparisons, the mean home-likeness ratings of 48 such pairs differed significantly from one another. A .98 log-linear correlation was found between number of residents in a given facility and institutional ratings. Of 26 features of living rooms studied in detail, furniture position, lighting type, and lighting flexibility were highly correlated with home-likeness, whereas building code-specific features and seating type were minimally related to home-likeness.

Adult↗