Passive Methods to Address the Sick Building Syndrome in Public Buildings

Abstract

The work on Sick Building Syndrome and indoor environmental quality in built environments in China started in the 1950s of twentieth century, the time when air-conditionings were first installed widely in industrial factories and the problems with indoor air pollutions from combustion, smoking and cooking were highlighted. The health effects of indoor environments have been studied since then and become one of the important research fields in building science. Meanwhile, many national standards and norms on air-conditioning and ventilation systems, building materials and constructions and indoor air quality have been successively promulgated to prevent and control the indoor pollutions and SBS in buildings, which has formed a primary standard system in China. The field surveys in large scales are conducted throughout the country to figure out the current status of SBS and indoor environmental quality in the existing buildings. A brief review on the above studies, standards and surveys are presented in this chapter.