Indoor climate and productivity

There is increasing evidence that indoor environmental conditions substantially influence health and performance. Macro-economic estimates show that the potential benefits from indoor environmental improvements for the society are high. Some calculations show that the estimated cost of poor indoor environment is higher than energy costs of heating and ventilation of the same buildings. A few sample calculations have also shown that many measures to improve indoor air environment are cost-effective when the health and productivity benefits resulting from an improved indoor climate are included into the calculations. There is an obvious need to develop tools and models so that economic outcomes of health and performance can be integrated in cost benefit calculations with initial, energy and maintenance costs. The use of such models would be expected to lead to improved indoor environments, health and productivity. In this paper we present estimates of some quantitative linkages for cost benefit calculations namely between ventilation rate and sick leave, ventilation rate and performance, perceived air quality and performance, temperature and performance. We also suggest that a link between SBS symptoms and performance exists. This summary is based on papers by Seppnen & Fisk 2005a,b and Seppnen et al. 2005.