Effect of Renovating an Office Building on Occupants' Comfort and Health

PEJTERSEN, JAN
BROHUS, HENRIK
HYLDGAARD, CARL ERIK
NIELSEN, JAN BACH
VALBJØN, OLE
HAUSCHILDT, PERNILLE
KJÆRGAARD, SØEN K.
WOLKOFF, PEDER

¹International Centre for Indoor Environment and Energy, Technical University of Denmark, Building 402, DK-2800 Lyngby, Denmark
²Department of Building Technology and Structural Engineering, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark
³Danish Building Research Institute, Hørsholm, Denmark
⁴Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, Aarhus University, Åarhus C, Denmark
⁵Department of Indoor Climate, National Institute of Occupational Health, Copenhagen Ø, Denmark

^*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed at Department of Indoor Climate, National Institute of Occupational Health, Lersø Parkallé 105, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark, Tel: +45 39165299, Fax: +45 39165201, e-mail: [email protected]

Received for review 10 January 2000. Accepted for publication 29 March 2000.

Indoor Air 11(1):p 10-25, January 2001.

An intervention study was performed in a mechanically ventilated office building in which there were severe indoor climate complaints among the occupants. In one part of the building a new heating and ventilation strategy was implemented by renovating the HVAC system, and a carpet was replaced with a low-emitting vinyl floor material; the other part of the building was kept unchanged, serving as a control. A comprehensive indoor climate investigation was performed before and after the intervention. Over a 2-week period, the occupants completed a daily questionnaire regarding their comfort and health. Physiological examinations of eyes, nose and lungs were performed on each occupant. Physical, chemical and sensory measurements were performed before and after the intervention. The renewal of the flooring material was performed after a sensory test of alternative solutions in the laboratory. Before the floor material was installed in the office building, a full-scale exposure experiment was performed in the laboratory. The new ventilation strategy and renovation of the HVAC system were selected on the basis of laboratory experiments on a full-scale mock-up of a cellular office. The severity of occupants' environmental perceptions and symptoms was significantly reduced by the intervention.

Practical Implications

Reducing the sensory pollution load on the indoor air by increasing ventilation effectiveness and by replacing high-polluting materials with low-polluting materials may reduce occupants' severity of environmental perceptions and symptoms.