Indoor air quality

In Britain and Western Europe, we spend an average of 80% to 90% of our time indoors. The indoor environment can influence building occupants’ health, comfort and productivity.

Comfort is defined as satisfaction with the environment. Health and comfort in the built environment are a multidisciplinary issue. They involve specialists with expertise in:

• health
• comfort
• air quality and
• environmental monitoring and control.

Every year in the UK, millions of workdays are lost through sickness absence. Several studies have shown that many building owners and users are not satisfied with the comfort of their workstations. Some building health problems, such as sick building syndrome (SBS) and allergic reactions to the indoor environment, result in:

• reduced productivity
• lowered morale and
• absence from work.

Monitoring indoor air quality can identify problem areas and the subsequent development of strategies to improve building management.

This section is maintained by Dr Jagjit Singh of Environmental Building Solutions Ltd.

RICS standard: Environmental Impact Assessment (archived)