Indoor Air Quality
2019-03-21 17:25:10.12105+00 by Dan Lyke 0 comments
Impaired Decision Making in Conference Rooms
However, the point of interest was something else entirely: three people quietly sitting in a mid-size conference room produced CO2 levels that within 60 minutes, reached concentrations high enough to impair their ability to make the right decisions. In a corporate world where Directors regularly pile into closed-door conference rooms for hours on end, making the most important planning decisions for their companies, this was a disturbing realization.
RT Sister Mary Clarence @emilyt804
Show us what 30 high school students in a classroom built for 20 does to the air.
Methods: Twenty-four participants spent 6 full work days (0900–1700 hours) in an environ-mentally controlled office space, blinded to test conditions. On different days, they were exposed toIEQ conditions representative of Conventional [high concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs)] and Green (low concentrations of VOCs) office buildings in the United States. Additional conditions simulated a Green building with a high outdoor air ventilation rate (labeled Green+) and artificially elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) levels independent of ventilation.
Results: On average, cognitive scores were 61% higher on the Green building day and 101% higher on the two Green+ building days than on the Conventional building day (p<0.0001). VOCs and CO2 were independently associated with cognitive scores.
Full study cite is: Allen, Joseph G., Piers MacNaughton, Usha Satish, SureshSantanam, Jose Vallarino, and John D. Spengler. 2015. “Associationsof Cognitive Function Scores with Carbon Dioxide, Ventilation,and Volatile Organic Compound Exposures in Office Workers:A Controlled Exposure Study of Green and Conventional OfficeEnvironments.” Environmental Health Perspectives 124 (6): 805-812.doi:10.1289/ehp.1510037. http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1510037
Bonus: Siloxanes Are the Most Abundant Volatile Organic Compound Emitted from Engineering Students in a Classroom. Or: yes, deodorants and body sprays and such are highly measurable in an indoor classroom environment.