The employees in a large office in Trondheim were complaining about headache, tiredness, sickness, allergic reactions in eye and nose, dry skin, respiratory diseases etc., and as usual they believed that their inconvenience was due tothe ventilating system. However, preliminary investigations did not verify this assumption, although it was evident that the heating and ventilating system was part of the problems. Measures included reduction of room temperature, antistatic treatment of carpets, and replacement of noisy ceiling diffusers.
The mould growth inside buildings merits study both in its own right as a natural phenomenon, and because it easily becomes airborne and might pose ahealth problem for certain individuals. The numbers and types of the airborne mycoflora inside buildings depend on air exchange with the outside and the presence of an endogenous mould population. Without intramural mould sources, indoor mould spore levels do, to a major degree, reflect outdoor levels.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the U.S. Army, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (USA-CERL) have collaborated on a project that examines the influence of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system operational parameters on the levels of microorganisms found in a simulated office space. In these experiments, fungi were collected as representative microorganisms using side-by-side sieve and slit samplers. Experiments at USA-CERL demonstrated that fan coil units are a major source of fungal aerosols in the built environment.
A matched pair of identical mobile homes, one supplied with electric heating and cooking utilities and the other with propane gas utilities, were used to evaluate, over a 14-month period, various factors which may affect indoor formaldehyde c
A mobile laboratory has been constructed for the sensory analysis of air quality in the field. It is used as a human exposure chamber for prolonged exposure to low concentration pollutants, a generator chamber for air pollutants, and a pollut
During the past few years it has become apparent that office environment problems have reached epidemic proportions. The Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Community Medicine in 1963 was empowered by the State Legisl
Formaldehyde concentrations and ventilation rates in Finnish housing were measured. Results are discussed with reference to the recommended minimum ventilation rate of 0.5 ach.
Results are given of the effect of ventilation rate, duct length and particle concentration on ion concentration under laboratory conditions. The effect of electrostatic fields is discussed.
Notes the considerable savings in heating energy that could be made if ventilation rates could be modulated so that only the requirements of the actual number of occupants was supplied. Explains how this can be done by ventilating to maintain a constant concentration of carbon dioxide. Describes carbon dioxide monitoring system based on infrared absorptiometry. Illustrates diagrammatically the layout of a cinema ventilation system which monitors carbon dioxide levels and explains its operation. Notes other buildings where the system is used.
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