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Indoor and Built Environment, Vol. 10, No. 3-4, 266-270 (2001)
DOI: 10.1177/1420326X0101000323

The Quality of the Air in Our Buildings

Claire Vitel

University of Reading, Berkshire, UK, Healthy Buildings International, Spencers Wood, Berkshire, UK

In the office workplace, today, we are surrounded by high-tech equipment, artificial lighting and synthetic car peting. Office environments vary in the type of air quality problems they present and contamination levels fluc tuate depending upon the tasks being performed and the frequency of these operations. The World Health Organ isation has suggested that 30% of buildings are prone to sick building syndrome problems and 30% more are like ly to develop the same symptoms. The research de scribed here used a common protocol to study the air quality within 256 different buildings and provides an account of the state of health in buildings within the UK. The results show that only 15% of the buildings surveyed achieved optimum environmental conditions; therefore 85% have the potential to make their occupants ill. Employers and building owners are beginning to appre ciate the importance of good air quality. Many have been forced to reimburse financially their employees for ill-

Study undertaken at the University of Reading, research undertaken by Healthy Buildings International. nesses the workers blamed on the indoor environment. There are cases where tenants have vacated office spaces due to air quality complaints.

Key Words: Air quality monitoring • Ventilation • Air pollution • Indoor environment • Building • health standard


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