Abstract
The aim of this study was to develop and test a tool for assessing urgency of indoor air quality (IAQ) measures. The condition of the 27 buildings were investigated and results were categorized. Statistical test studied the differences between the categories and the employees’ complaints about their work environment. To study the employees’ experiences of the work premises, a validated indoor air (IA) questionnaire was used. This study reveals a multifaceted problem: many factors affecting IAQ may also affect perceived IAQ, making it difficult to separate the impurity sources and ventilation system deficiencies affecting to employee experiences. An examination of the relationship between the categories and perceived IAQ revealed an association between the mould odour perceived by employees and mould detected by the researcher. A weak link was also found between the assessed categories and environmental complaints. However, we cannot make far-reaching conclusions regarding the assessed probability of abnormal IA exposure in the building on the basis of employee experiences. According to the results, categorising tool can partly support the assessment of the urgency for repairs when several factors that affect IAQ are taken into account.
Highlights
Indoor air quality (IAQ) problems in buildings are common in Finland
The probability of abnormal indoor air (IA) exposure was likely on 39% of the floors of the building and very likely on 13%, meaning that these floors had wide moisture and mould damage in their structures together with air leaks from damaged materials to the IA (Table 6)
This study found a relation between the presence of man-made vitreous fibres (MMVFs) sources in the ventilation system and the perceived IAQ
Summary
Indoor air quality (IAQ) problems in buildings are common in Finland. In 2015, construction works in Finland totalled about 1.5 million buildings, of which 51% were built before 1980. The prevalence of significant mould and moisture problems in Finnish building stock has been estimated to be 2.5–26%, depending on the type of building. In addition to moisture and mould damage, several other factors and their interactions, such as material emissions [3], ventilation deficiencies [4] and system impurities [5], outdoor and soil impurities [6], human activities in the premises [7] and indoor air (IA) temperature [8] can cause IAQ problems and difficulties for occupants or employees. The ageing of building stock, neglectful maintenance, and building and planning errors are often the cause of IAQ problems and are associated with environmental complaints [9]
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