SICK BUILDING Syn-
drome (SBS) has spread

from the office to the
home.

By Anna Marie D’Angelo
News Reporter

People affected with SBS have
symptoms including coughs, itchy
eyes, running noses and fatigue.

In the past, the condition was
associated with office towers with
windows that don’t open. These
office highrises used to, and still
do, have a problem in keeping
pollutants out of recirculated air.

The home variety of SBS is
associated with recent trends
towards energy conservation in
residential buildings. :

“There are problems with the
insufficient turnover of fresh air

‘in a house. And this is in com-
bination with a number of pro-
ducts that produce noxious or tox-
ic fumes,” said Milton Gardner,
Architectural Institute of B.C.’s

. energy and environment chairman.
. Gardner, a West Vancouver res-
ident, said noxious or toxic fumes
can come from glues, plastic lam-
inates, carpet materials and any
petroleum-based or synthetic pro-
duct in a house.

He said in response to the prob-
lem, a lot of manufacturers have

changed their products so less -
“off-gassing’* occurs. Manufac-

44 A lightly concealed building

conserves heat and may enhance

. off-gassing. 99

turers are also detailing better the

contents of their products.

“We are beginning to be more
sensitive to these products, par-
ticularly as larger numbers of the
population begin to react to them
with health problems,’’ said
Gardner; j

The off-gassing process is part
of the normal aging process of
materials. But off-gassing in-
creases with heat and humidity. A
“tightly sealed’? building con-
serves heat and may enhance
off-gassing. :

To combat the problem, some
buildings have been constructed
with higher-priced, non-toxic ma-
terials such as granite, marble and
wood. . a

But Gardner said avoiding syn-
thetics is not the cut-and-dry an-
swer to the problem because natu-
ral substances such as wool in
wool carpets cause allergy prob-
lems. And cleaning a wool carpet

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may cause additional allergy prob-
lems. .

As far as combating SBS, the
Allergy Information Association
says the first line of defence is to
increase the ventilation of the
building so that there is an ade-
quate flow of fresh air.

Although the indoor pollutants
will still be there, their concentra-
tion will be reduced when mixed
with fresh air.

Gardner suggests people should
thoroughly clean their homes and,
by trial and error, try to figure
out the source of the problem.

Periodicals on energy-efficient
housing and green architecture are
available at libraries. These maga-
zines may help homeowners tackle
their SBS probiem.

“You still can have a tight
building, you just have to be more
concerned with the products you
put in it,’’ said Gardner.

ril 16, 1993 —

a
: : . NEWS photo Peul McGrath
WINDOWS, WINDOWS, everywhere, and not one pane to open.
Sick Bullding Syndrome is associated with office highrises, win-

dows that don’t open and recycled air. Nowadays, the condition ©
is also associated with homes designed for energy conservation. te

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