Preliminary results of the environmental evaluation of the Federal Records Center in Overland Missouri

Technical Report · Mon Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1991

OSTI ID:6206906

Persily, A K; Dols, W S; Nabinger, S J; Kirchner, S

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is studying the thermal and environmental performance of new federal office buildings for the Public Buildings Service of the General Services Administration (GSA). The project involves long-term performance monitoring both before occupancy and during early occupancy in three new office buildings. The performance evaluation includes an assessment of the thermal integrity of the building envelope, long-term monitoring of ventilation system performance, and the measurement of indoor levels of selected pollutants. The report describes the effort being conducted in the second of the three buildings, the Federal Records Center in Overland Missouri, and presents preliminary measurement results from the building. The infrared thermographic inspection of the Overland Building did not reveal any significant thermal defects in the building envelope, though the existence of air leakage and thermal bridging was noted. The whole building pressurization test showed that the building is quite leaky compared to other modern office buildings. The measured radon concentrations were 2 pCi/L or less on the B2 level, and less than or equal to 0.5 pCi/L on the other levels. Formaldehyde concentrations ranged from 0.03 to 0.07 ppm, below the 0.1 ppm guideline but above some levels of concern. The measured levels of volatile organic compounds were similar to those observed in other new office buildings, and the impact of building furnishings and construction activities on the VOC levels were noted. The carbon dioxide levels in the building have generally been low, as would be expected in a building with low levels of occupancy.

• Research Organization: National Inst. of Standards and Technology (BFRL), Gaithersburg, MD (United States)
• OSTI ID: 6206906
• Report Number(s): PB-91-240747/XAB; NISTIR--4634
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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