The California Healthly Building Pilot Study: I. Study design and protocol. [Sick building syndrome or buildings related illness]

Technical Report · Sat Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1990

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5209521· OSTI ID:5209521

Daisey, J M; Fisk, W J; Hodgson, A T; Mendell, M J; Faulkner, D; Nematollahi, M ^[1]; Macher, J M ^[2]

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1. Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (United States)
2. California Dept. of Health Services, Berkeley, CA (United States). Air and Industrial Hygiene Lab.

The California Healthy Building Pilot Study was conducted in 12 office buildings in two climate zones in the San Francisco Bay area, was designed to test several hypotheses concerning the relationships between type of building ventilation, air quality, thermal comfort and occupant symptoms. The primary objectives of the study were (1) to determine the prevalence of various occupant symptoms and perceptions of thermal comfort in office buildings; (2) to determine if there is a difference in occupants' symptom prevalence between buildings with natural ventilation and those with mechanical ventilation, both with and without air conditioning; (3) to examine the relationships between symptoms and measured characteristics of the indoor environment; and (4) to develop and field test new techniques for characterizing building ventilation and indoor air quality. This pilot study included explicit testing of prestated hypotheses, selection of public office buildings based on ventilation type, without regard to worker complaints, use of a questionnaire based on work-related symptoms keyed to the time and location of environmental measurements, and the development and testing of new methods for characterizing ventilation effectiveness by means of a Pollutant Control Index and volatile organic compounds by means of an irritancy index. In addition, the questionnaire included measures by environmental worry'' to allow adjustment for biased symptom reporting among those worried about adverse health effects of their indoor environment, and a previously validated scale of job stress/satisfaction to allow control for biased symptom reporting among those dissatisfied with their jobs. 34 refs., 2 tabs.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC03-76SF00098
• OSTI ID: 5209521
• Report Number(s): LBL-29851; ON: DE92000658
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320105* -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Building Services-- (1987-)
AEROSOLS
AESTHETICS
AIR POLLUTION
ALDEHYDES
BUILDINGS
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON DIOXIDE
CARBON MONOXIDE
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
COLLOIDS
CONTROL
DATA ANALYSIS
DISPERSIONS
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
HAZARDS
HEALTH HAZARDS
HUMAN FACTORS
INDOOR AIR POLLUTION
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MATHEMATICS
MATTER
MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS
OFFICE BUILDINGS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POLLUTANTS
POLLUTION
POLLUTION CONTROL
SAMPLING
SOLS
STATISTICS
SURVEYS
THERMAL COMFORT
VENTILATION
VENTILATION SYSTEMS
VOLATILE MATTER
WORKING CONDITIONS