Building and Health: Mapping the Knowledge Development of Sick Building Syndrome

Abstract

At present, with more and more attention paid to the impact of buildings on the health and well-being of occupants, sick building syndrome (SBS) has become a global concern. Since the introduction of SBS by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1983, thousands of research literatures have been published in this field. This paper systematically arranges knowledge development of SBS through bibliometric analysis, exploring the most influential countries, institutions, journals and scholars, as well as the main subject categories and keywords. Main path analysis (MPA) was used to list development trajectory under inheritance relationship of SBS knowledge, including symptom analysis, risk factors of SBS and the improved impact of ventilation on SBS and productivity. Furthermore, it is an emerging research trend to propose SBS solution in the building design stage.