Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
ment, and perceptions of the building environment and work conditions.
Questionnaires may be self-administered or administered by investigators.
Self-administered questionnaires are more commonly used because they
minimize staff time required.
Questionnaires have advantages and limitations. The major advantage
is that they standardize data collection from a large spectrum of building
occupants who have complained and those who have not. As such, they can
provide an overview of the nature of the problem, relative symptom prev-
alence, occupant satisfaction/dissatisfaction with the building/work envi-
ronment, etc. However, because of their often generalized nature, they may
fail to collect vital information about the nature of the problem that may be
provided by direct occupant interviews. They also have the disadvantage of
being too impersonal. Part of problem resolution involves listening to those
who have reported complaints to building management; interviews often
convey investigator and building management concern for problems occu-
pants are experiencing.
A variety of questionnaires have been designed for the conduct of build-
ing investigations. Two questionnaires are included at the end of this chapter.
The first (Appendix A) is used in conducting NIOSH health hazard investi-
gations of problem buildings. It is designed to be used for either structured
interviews or to be self-administered. The second (Appendix B) is a more
extensive questionnaire developed by the Danish Building Research Insti-
tute. As can be seen, it is more detailed and structured. It is designed to
collect demographic information, recently experienced symptoms, and his-
tories relative to allergy and asthma, as well as physical and psychosocial
factors in the work environment. It is far more comprehensive than the
NIOSH questionnaire and reflects an epidemiological assessment of risk
factors for illness and other IAQ/IE complaints.
c.
Assessment of HVAC system operation and maintenance.
Because of
the high probability (
50%) that a problem building will be experiencing
some type of ventilation deficiency, many building investigations will assess,
to some degree, the operation and performance of HVAC (heating, ventila-
tion, and air-conditioning) systems. The evaluation of HVAC systems and
their potential role in contributing to occupant comfort and health com-
plaints requires that the investigator have a technical understanding of the
design, operation, and maintenance of HVAC systems, as well as familiarity
with problems that occur as a result of system deficiencies. A limited dis-
cussion of ventilation system design, operation, and performance may be
found in Chapter 11.
A variety of HVAC system-associated problems have been linked to
health and comfort complaints. These include: (1) insufficient outdoor air
flow rates needed to control bioeffluent levels; (2) migration of contaminants
from one building space to another (cross-contamination); (3) re-entry of
building exhaust gases; (4) entrainment of contaminants generated outdoors;
(5) generation of mineral fibers and black fragments of neoprene from duct
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