Indoor Air Cartoon Journal, June 2019, Volume 2, #64

Most people do not know the difference between sick building syndrome (SBS) and building related illness (BRI). This week’s cartoon provides an answer to this. The prevalence of SBS and BRI reduces work performance and productivity by causing poor work concentration and decline in work accuracy and speed. Thus, it is essential to design, construct, maintain and operate buildings to reduce the prevalence of SBS and BRI.

Indoor air quality and other building performance mandates – thermal, light, and acoustic conditions – could cause SBS. However, indoor air pollution is a major cause of BRI. The focus of this issue is indoor air. Fundamentally, eliminating the source of indoor air pollution, adequate ventilation rate, and proper air filtration and cleaning would help reduce the prevalence of SBS and BRI.

Do you want to know more about this topic? Read Molhave (2011), Seltzer (1994), and Thorn (1998) papers.