The purpose of this study is to identify the causality explaining indoor concentrations offormaldehyde, VOCs and fungi which have significant health effects. In the rainy season(July), summer (August), autumn (October) and winter (December), measurements werecarried out in three newly built apartment complexes. In each complex the same buildingmaterials were used.

The quality of our indoor environments affects well-being and productivity, and risks fordiverse diseases are increased by indoor air pollutants, surface contamination with toxinsand microbes, and contact among people at home, at work, in transportation, and in manyother public and private places. Offered here is an overview of nearly a century of researchdirected at understanding indoor environments and health, current research needs, andpolicy initiatives that need to be addressed in order to have the healthiest possible builtenvironments.

In recent years, the World Health Organization has published a database with detailedestimates of the global burden of death and morbidity by disease, age, sex, and region. Justthis year, a WHO-organized international team expanded this effort by systematicallyestimating the individual burdens for some two dozen more distal risk factors by age, sex,and region, including, inter alia, malnutrition, hypertension, tobacco use, obesity, unsafesex, and several environmental and occupational risk factors.

On the international level, ISO (International Organization for Standardization), CEN (EuropeanCommittee for Standardization) and ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and AirConditioning Engineers) are writing and reviewing standards relating to the indoor environment on aregular basis.

For a long time in the history of the productivity study, the effects of environmental factors onlyon the performance had been focused. However, previous studies on the impact of theenvironment upon performance of mental tasks generally conclude that productivity research issomewhat confusing because the results are sometimes conflicting. In the controlled chamber,subjects may be highly motivated for a short time period, so it is very difficult to find thedifference of performances. In this paper, we introduce a second parameter : fatigue. Threesubjective experiments are reported.

Following a comprehensive review of research over the 150-year history of mechanical ventilation, the recent European Multidisciplinary Scientific Consensus Meeting (EUROVEN) considered that only 20 studies relating ventilation (i.e. outside air supply rate per person) to human response were conclusive. From them, a small number of conclusions were drawn, and some very large gaps in our knowledge of this important area of research were identified. Taking these as the starting point, this paper formulates a strategy for evaluating IAQ effects on people.

The activities of indoor environmental research have increased significantly since the firstenergy crisis of the early 1970s. Since then, research has produced many significant resultsthat have already been put into practice. These include the health effects and prevention ofenvironmental pollution by tobacco smoke, formaldehyde, radon, asbestos, etc. The healthrisks of these contaminants have been verified, and appropriate measures have been taken bythe authorities, as well as by the building industry and product manufacturers.

Modern buildings’ environmental impacts threaten global environmental health. Population growth and increased access to and use of current building technology are not sustainable. People are often not in control of their building environments and, as a re

Comprehensive field studies in different parts of the world have documented that highpercentages of occupants in many offices and similar buildings find the indoor air quality(IAQ) unacceptable and suffer from SBS symptoms. This occurs even though existingventilation standards and guidelines are met and even though measured concentrations ofpollutants in the air are way below any limits or guideline values. A series of recentindependent studies has documented that mediocre IAQ also has a negative impact on theproductivity of office workers.

Twenty five cellular offices in the Wilkinson Building at the University of Sydney, Australia are ventilated through operable windows and doors and have been retrofitted with a supplementary reverse cycle cooling/heating system with an occupant controlled fancoil unit in each room. Energy consumption and occupancy and temperature status of rooms have been monitored since the system was commissioned at the end of 1997.