Abstract:
Prevalence of harmful natural and artificial substances combined with poorly ventilated interiors can
lead to various building related health problems among those who spend long periods indoors. A group
of symptoms of unclear etiology divided into mucous membrane symptoms related to eyes, nose, throat,
dry skin, together with general symptoms of headache and lethargy due to poor indoor air quality is
defined as Sick Building Syndrome. Literature revealed many evidence of indoor air quality and other
symptoms that affect to staff in office buildings in Sri Lanka. Thus purpose of this study is to appraise
the impact of sick building syndrome on building occupants in an office environment.
Case study was selected as the research approach. Semi structured interviews were conducted with
responsible parties on indoor air quality and occupants of three selected office buildings. Case studies
revealed that uncomfortable indoor environment and unsystematic maintenance of existing indoor air
caused prevalence of symptoms related to sick building syndrome among building occupants, such as
lethargy and eye irritation. Results showed that occupants in three office buildings bore many common
symptoms while working in same premises in same timing pattern. Further, findings showed that three
office buildings that are already affected with sick building attributes have in fact complied with
existing Indoor Environment Quality standards. This study discusses approaches to identify sick
building syndrome in working environments and standards to mitigate unhealthy conditions in
buildings. This study enhances the comprehension on sick building syndrome and attributes that can be
applied to evaluate impact of poor indoor environment quality on sick building syndrome.
Citation:
Wijerathne, H.A.N., Karunasena, G.I., & Mallawaarachchi, B.H. (2012). Study on sick building syndrome in office environment. In S. Senaratne & Y.G. Sandanayake (Eds.), Global challenges in construction industry (pp. 396-406). Ceylon Institute of Builders. https://ciobwcs.com/downloads/WCS2012-Proceedings.pdf