Ventilation Rate and Building-Related Symptoms in 100 US Office Buildings—The US EPA Base Study

Mendell, Mark J.; Lei-Gomez, Q.; Apte, Michael G.

doi:10.1097/01.ede.0000276870.01416.2f

Cited by 5 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…Interestingly, most of the previous studies based on IEQ data for commercial buildings, such as office buildings, did not provide equation-based models to link the environmental parameters to the occupant perceptions and health outcomes. Instead, these studies provided clear indications of different associations between the environmental parameters and occupant outcomes [12,25]. Nevertheless, these pioneering studies enabled the analyses conducted in the present study by developing both novel findings and data collection methods.…”

Section: Parametersmentioning

confidence: 98%

Occupant perceptions and a health outcome in retail stores

Zhao

Kim

Srebric

2015

Building and Environment

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Section: Parametersmentioning

confidence: 98%

Occupant perceptions and a health outcome in retail stores

Zhao

Kim

Srebric

2015

Building and Environment

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“…There is considerable scatter in the data, but most slopes are negative indicating a decrease in SBS symptom prevalence with increased ventilation rate. As illustrated in the figure, the results from a technical report (Mendell et al 2005) not reported in a journal article and the results of two studies (three data points) with SBS symptom intensity rather than prevalence as the outcome (Tham 2004;Wargocki et al 2004) are not distinct from other results. The method used to weight the studies had only a modest impact on the resulting fit to the data.…”

Section: Data Analysis Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 78%

Quantification of the association of ventilation rates with sick building syndrome symptoms

Fisk¹,

Mirer²,

Mendell³

2009

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SUMMARYData from published studies were combined and analyzed to develop best-fit equations and curves quantifying the change in sick building syndrome (SBS) symptom prevalence with ventilation rate. For each study, slopes were calculated, representing the fractional change in SBS symptom prevalence per unit change in ventilation rate per person. Values of ventilation rate, associated with each value of slope, were also calculated. Linear regression equations were fit to the resulting data points, after weighting by study size. Integration of the slopeventilation rate equations yielded curves of relative SBS symptom prevalence versus ventilation rate. Based on these analyses, relative SBS symptom prevalence increases approximately 23% (12% to 32%) as the ventilation rate drops from 10 to 5 L/s-person and relative prevalence decreases approximately 29% (15% to 42%) as ventilation rate increases from 10 to 25 L/s-person. KEYWORDS Association, Health, Quantification, Sick building syndrome, Symptoms, Ventilation rate INTRODUCTIONNumerous experimental and cross-sectional studies have investigated the associations of the prevalence rates of sick building syndrome (SBS) symptoms with office building ventilation rates. Studies have typically used the odds ratio or relative risk to indicate strength of the association of SBS symptom prevalence with ventilation rates and have generally controlled via the study design or analysis method for several potential confounding factors. Although ventilation rates, SBS symptom types, and findings have varied among studies, most studies have found that occupants of office buildings with lower rates of ventilation (outdoor air supply) per person have statistically significantly higher prevalence rates of SBS symptoms (Seppanen et al. 1999;Wargocki et al. 2002). For this paper, we have analyzed data to develop best-fit equations quantifying the change in relative SBS symptom prevalence with ventilation rate. A prior similar analysis quantified the relationship of relative work performance with ventilation rate (Seppanen et al. 2006). By quantifying these and other relationships between IAQ factors and health or performance outcomes, we seek to provide tools that better inform decisions about building design or operation.

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“…Potential environmental confounders included temperature (the product of number of degrees over 20°C and number of hours at each level, in quartiles (Apte, Fisk et al 2000)), mean humidity ratio (a measure of absolute humidity, in quartiles), ventilation rate (as estimated from volumetric flow measures (Mendell, Lei et al 2005)), floor area in study space per operable window, average hours of ventilation per weekday, and season during which each building was studied. Personal variables considered as potential confounders included subject's age, gender, smoking status, job category, level of education, job satisfaction, job demand, job conflict, hours worked weekly, years worked in the building, workstation location, hours worked at a computer daily, photocopier use, comfort of chair, comfort of desk, and histories of hay fever, dust allergy, mold allergy, eczema, and asthma.…”

Section: Confounding Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contaminants in Buildings and Occupied Spaces as Risk Factors forOccupant Symptoms in U.S. Office Buildings: Findings from the U.S. EPABASE Study

Mendell

Mirer²,

Lei-Gomez³

2007

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Background: Nonspecific building-related symptoms among occupants of modern office buildings worldwide are common and may be associated with important reductions in work performance, but their etiology remains uncertain. Most reported research into environmental risk factors for these symptoms has focused on ventilation system-related factors, dampness, and particle removal through filtration and cleaning, with relatively few studies of other potential sources of indoor contaminants.Methods: We analyzed data collected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from a representative sample of 100 large U.S. office buildings -the Building Assessment and Survey Evaluation (BASE) study -using multivariate-adjusted logistic regression models with generalized estimating equations. We estimated odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for associations between seven building-related symptom outcomes and a diverse set of potential indoor and outdoor sources for indoor pollutants.Results: Although most of the investigated risk factors showed no apparent association with building-related symptoms, some interesting associations resulted. Increased prevalence of symptoms was associated with carpets older than one year (lower respiratory symptoms), noncarpeted floors (upper and lower respiratory symptoms), older furniture (eye and skin symptoms), infrequent vacuuming (upper respiratory, eye, and skin symptoms and headache), and masonry exterior walls (cough, eye symptoms, and fatigue/concentration difficulty).Discussion: For the many potential risk factors assessed, almost none had been investigated previously, and many associations found here may have been by chance. Additional confirmatory research focused on risk factors initially identified here is needed, using more objective measures of health outcomes and risk factors or exposures.

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Ventilation Rate and Building-Related Symptoms in 100 US Office Buildings—The US EPA Base Study

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

Occupant perceptions and a health outcome in retail stores

Occupant perceptions and a health outcome in retail stores

Quantification of the association of ventilation rates with sick building syndrome symptoms

Contaminants in Buildings and Occupied Spaces as Risk Factors forOccupant Symptoms in U.S. Office Buildings: Findings from the U.S. EPABASE Study

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