The inventory of organics in the air of a ten year old office building shows a wide variety of natural and synthetical volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Although 240 employees consume 1200 - 1500 cigarettes per day, the effective ventilation system reduces the ETS rapidly, however, aromatic hydrocarbons and some natural compounds still remain in the air in the higher μg/m3-range. Systematic analyses of volatile compounds of all cleansers used shows that they are sources of higher limonene amounts. Aromatics entered by way of "fresh air'' intake near the parking entrance at street level.

This paper summarizes negative psychological and physiological effects associated with underground buildings, identifies design strategies to alleviate them, and evaluates the effectiveness of some of these design techniques. The focus of the paper is on deep underground space with limited connection to the surface environment. A case study of design strategies used in deep underground office space is presented, and two proposed projects that further illustrate design techniques for deep milled space underground environments are described.

Parking garages require ventilation because the exhaust fumes produced by the vehicles have to be discharged. This can be achieved with a mechanical or a natural ventilation system. A natural ventilation system has several important advantages compared with a mechanical system. As a rule natural ventilation systems arc simpler, cheaper and have fewer breakdowns, furthermore a natural system requires less maintenance and uses no energy (for air transfer).

A rapid method for employing personal exposure monitors (PEMs) to measure carbon monoxide (CO) concentrations in high-rise buildings is described. The purpose is to determine whether or not a CO problem exists in a building, and, if so, what corrective actions should be taken. The methodology was applied to a 15-story building in Palo Alto, CA, where elevated CO concentrations were discovered on the first 11 floors . The source appeared to be an underground parking garage.

After numerous tests and experiments on the best way to overcome the problems associated with Bus Garage Ventilation, a simple solution was arrived at - being the most effective and economic.

This paper presents the results of a research program that was conducted for ASHRAE by TRC- Environmental Consultants, Inc. The purpose of the study was to provide information on the effectiveness of existing ASHRAE ventilation guidelines for maintaining acceptable air pollutant levels and to develop a methodology for including economic utilization of energy in the consideration of future guidelines.