---

Alberta Dept of Education, 1992
Alberta (Canada) Schools - "Daylight Boosts Test Scores" (6/12/00)
From 1981-1985 and again from 1986-1989, studies were conducted with 700 elementary school students in two schools. They found that, in daylight, student attendance increased 3.5 days a year; the extra vitamin D generated by sunlight helped reduce tooth decay; average growth of students was 1 centimeter more than those enrolled in artificially lighted schools; performance improved.

ACEEE The 1998 Summer Study
Proceedings are available from ACEEE publications.
The proceedings include studies from both the United States and Sweden that show health, comfort, productivity, and other non-energy benefits can be a significant driver and in some cases the primary driver for investments in energy efficiency. These results suggest that energy efficiency improvements can be "sold" based on a broad range of impacts, and that much more attention should be devoted to monitoring, analyzing, and publicizing these non-energy benefits.

American Institute Of Architecture (AIA)

A Discussion Guide For Planning A School
This guide covers the six major elements that define a quality school - structural condition, environmental quality, size and capacity, safety and security, site location, and symbolic value and aesthetics.

American Society Of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air
Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)

ASHRAE Technology Awards -1999 - Fellowes High School, Pembroke, Ontario (downloads Adobe PDF file)
Honorable Mention (Existing): David G. Eastwood, P.Eng., Member ASHRAE Fellowes.
The High School was built in 1969. An air quality evaluation in 1996 found complaints such as absenteeism, stale air, cooking odors, health problems and diesel smells. The four main air-handling units did not have heating coils and were operated with outside air intakes closed. Under this project, the existing chilled water piping system to these AHUs was connected to the main heating water header. This allowed the AHU coils to operate as heating coils during the winter. With this new heating capability, the outside air dampers were repositioned to supply 20,000 cfm (9400 L/s) outside air. Two rooftop package units and ductwork were installed to provide ventilation and air conditioning to the main corridors and locker areas. More rooftop units were added to ventilate and flush the diesel fumes from the stairs and hallways and to supply air to a 1991 addition. Range hoods and a 1750 cfm (825 L/s) exhaust fan was installed and a motorized damper to the return air closes when the exhaust system is on, which prevents the recirculation of cooking odors.

Asbestos - Position Paper
This paper outlines the risk potential of asbestoscontaining building materials (ACBM. ) Some insight is given into assessment and mitigation requirements. The need for expert assistance when dealing with potential asbestos hazards is recognized, and resource information is presented. The federal government estimates that more than 40.000 school buildings and 700.000 public buildings contain asbestos materials. Also. preliminary estimates suggest that millions of U.S. homes contain asbestos materials. These composite materials may be in varying stages of deterioration due to the natural aging process, damage, or renovation. Because of this deterioration, fibers may be released from these materials into the breathing zones of building occupants.

A Study of Comfort, Health And Learning in Schools With Differing Thermal Conditions
ASHRAE Research Project #91 (1968/1970/1971); See ASHRAE Transactions for complete paper.

Designer Suggests Guidelines to Curb School HVAC Noise
Each day in every classroom in every elementary school, there is a child who has trouble hearing. Childhood hearing loss is more common than most people think and can interfere with learning, particularly in noisy classrooms. ASHRAE Journal Industry News, March 1999.

Determining The Advisability of Learning VS Thermal Environment Study in Dallas, Texas Schools
ASHRAE Research Project #125 (undated); See ASHRAE Transactions for complete paper.

Determination of The Effect Of Thermal Environment on Productivity & Learning in Commercial, Industrial & School Activities
ASHRAE Research Project #57 (1968/1970); See ASHRAE Transactions for complete paper.

Myths About Building Envelopes (downloads Adobe PDF file)
"Tight Buildings" are frequently blamed for IAQ problems in the press, however this is generally not the case. This AHRAE Journal article addresses the real issues involved.
Abstract: It is often assumed that commercial and institutional buildings are fairly airtight and that envelope air leakage does not have a significant impact on energy consumption and indoor air quality in these buildings. Furthermore, it is assumed that more recently constructed buildings are tighter than older buildings. However, very little data is available on the airtightness of building envelopes in commercial and institutional buildings. By Andrew K. Persily, Ph.D.

New Ventilation Rates Proposed
The committee revising Standard 62-1989, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality, has proposed an addendum that will lower ventilation rates for most spaces. ASHRAE Journal, Industry News, May 1999.

ODOR IDENTIFICATION IN SCHOOL ROOM ENVIRONMENTS
ASHRAE Research Project #96 (1971); See ASHRAE Transactions for complete paper.

Perception of Comfort in Relation to Weather and Indoor Adaptive Opportunities
ASHRAE Trans. 1998, Vol.104, Part 1; AUTHOR: J. Fergus Nicol, Maria R.B. Kessler
ABSTRACT:
This paper compares conditions on three floors2 of a building that use different environmental control strategies. The first floor uses night ventilation and thermal mass to keep the interior cool, the third floor was fitted with mechanical cooling units, and the second floor consists of standard cellular offices with 60% glazing. This paper discusses the results of staff satisfaction surveys conducted in three consecutive months, August, September, and October 1995, among the occupants of the three floors of the building. The results show a clear change in the perception of comfort and adaptive opportunities on each floor as the weather cools down from an exceptionally hot summer. Lessons are drawn for the design of passively cooled buildings and for future research.

Study Offers Insight on SBS - SBS Not Limited To Buildings with Air Conditioning
Health disturbances in office buildings are not restricted to air-conditioned buildings, according to the interim results of a German interdisciplinary research project examining more than 3,000 people employed in office buildings. The study suggests that the typical range of complaints of sick building syndrome (SBS), such as headache, dizziness and irritation of the eyes and mucous membranes, occur in buildings with natural ventilation as well as in air-conditioned buildings. Industry News - April 1998

Quieter HVAC Systems Key to Reducing Noise in Classrooms
There are children who have trouble hearing. Childhood hearing loss is more common than most people think and can interfere with learning, particularly in noisy classrooms. A key factor to quieting classrooms is eliminating excessive noise from the schoolís HVAC system, said researchers and engineers at the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) 1999 Winter Meeting, held January 23-27.

Berne O.D., Sam. Santa Fe, NM
Creating Your Personal Vision: A Mind/Body Guide to Better Eyesight, 1994
"Those who work in offices with full-spectrum lighting report less eyestrain, fewere headaches, fewer sick days, better concentration and greater concentration. People have more energy, better concentration, sleep better and stop craving carbohydrates and caffeine."

Boosting Productivity With IEQ (Indoor Environmental Quality) Improvements
Building Design And Construction Magazine, 4/1/97
Author: William D. Browning

Boosting Prosperity: Reducing the Threat of Global Climate Change Through Sustainable Energy Investments
Sponsored by Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Energy Foundation, January 1996.
Provides numerous examples of how businesses investing in energy efficiency can improve their bottom line by lowering their energy bills and boosting productivity. They explain how energy-efficient building and office design can significantly increase worker productivity. By improving lighting, heating, and cooling, workers are made more comfortable and productive.

A favorite quote from this report:

- An increase of 1 percent in productivity can provide savings that exceed a company's entire energy bill -

Building Operating Management Magazine
Many issues of this magazine have articles that address energy efficiency, health, productivity, and comfort. In particular, check out:

A Closer Look at Elements of a Productive Indoor Environment
Attention to light, air, sound and movement can clear away barriers to productivity.

August 1995 Editorial
New workstations in an office facility offered workers direct personal control of lighting, heating, cooling, air flow, even masking sound. The productivity impact could be determined simply by disconnecting the workstation units and measuring employee performance. That test showed a 2-1/2 percent productivity gain from the personally controlled workstations.

August 1996: Productivity Issue
Title says it all....

Energy Upgrades: Fictions And Facts (Getting the go-ahead on energy retrofits)
Ten myths about energy-efficient electrical product upgrades that can sabotage projects before they begin (see Myth Number 8:- Potential savings are not significant to the organization - "...increased occupant comfort and productivity, employee retention and environmental benefits through reduced emissions are significant. In an increasingly competitive business environment, these sorts of benefits assume real dollar values; they should not be overlooked when the savings are calculated").

Indoor Air Quality
Discussion of the hard-to-quantify linkage between indoor air quality and productivity.

Integrating People, Places & Processes
Facility executives play an important role in company-wide efforts to boost productivity. A compelling excerpt: "On-site research results from the National Summit on Building Performance suggest that high-quality buildings can increase employee productivity by 10 to 20 percent. According to the research, with nearly 100 million white collar or knowledge workers in the United States earning an average salary of $43,680, this amounts to $438 billion annually in potential productivity improvements."

Lighting (May 1995 issue)
While energy conservation remains a key issue, corporate board rooms today are more concerned with worker productivity. As a result, facility management's focus has shifted from simply specifying energy-saving lighting products to the more complex concept of using lighting energy efficiently.

Lighting (August 1995 issue)
Although electricity cost reduction pays for the typical lighting retrofit project, the upgrade also presents an opportunity to address such obstacles to productivity as glare, inappropriate lighting levels and excessive contrast ratios, said Steven Mesh of Mesh and Juul Inc.

Measuring and Tracking Operational Worker Productivity
Business Results and Profits Stand to be Maximized

One-Stop Educational Resource Provides IAQ Solutions
Facility executives are losing billions of dollars annually on lost productivity, absenteeism, increased health care costs, even lawsuits due to indoor air quality (IAQ) issues that affect worker comfort and health. The Envirosense® Consortium, Inc., a non-profit organization, IAQ issues by disseminating information and focusing on a three-part, proactive approach to IAQ -- the "total systems approach," encompassing building systems, product systems and maintenance systems as a way to achieve and maintain a healthy environment with sustainable performance.

Stepping Stones to Productivity
Itís impossible to deny that building technologies have an impact on employee performance. The hard questions are how ó and how much?

Tackling Workplace Problems
The physical environment can boost or limit productivity in seven key areas.

The Workplace Performance Issue (May 1997)

Getting Their Money's Worth
Top executives look for bottom-line impact.

People, Places & Processes
A new team tackles workplace challenges.

Technology's Contribution
Facilities can boost or bust productivity.

California Air Resources Board
Includes a list of the research notes prepared by the ARB which involve indoor air quality issues. Also provides information on how you can contact them for further information about the Indoor Program or order hard copies of Indoor Program Research Notes and guidelines.

California Department of Health Services

Indoor Air Quality Info Sheet
Advisory on Relcocatable and Renovated Classrooms
This document summarizes the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) considerations regarding the purchase/lease of relocatable classrooms (or "portables") and the contracting for renovation of existing space. It is provided to advise school facility managers how to minimize potential health impacts from IEQ problems with cost-effective practices. The key IEQ concerns address design, construction/installation, first-use, and maintenance; some of the issues apply both to "portables" and renovated classrooms. A listing of related documents where further technical details may be
found is also included.

Indoor Air Quality, A Guide for Educators, 1995 (Click here to download.PDF)
A brief description of school facility concerns about indoor air quality. It is a simplified discussion of problems that can affect the health of both staff and students and includes a list of management procedures that can be used to help mitigate problems of unclean air.

California Energy Commission - Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) Program (Stage 2 - 1/22/99 Draft Plan - PDF format)
The Stage 2 PIER program has been divided into six programmatic areas, one of which is Buildings. Within the buildings area, the following four issues interelating energy efficiency, comfort, economics, health and productivity are proposed to be addressed with PIER research:
Issue 1. Energy consumption is increasing in hotter, inland areas as new building construction increases in these areas.
Issue 2. Development of energy efficient products and services does not adequately consider non-energy benefits, such as comfort, productivity, durability, and decreased maintenance.
Issue 3. Building design, construction, and operation of energy features can affect public health and safety.
Issue 4. Investment in energy efficiency affects building and housing affordability and value, and the stateís economy.
The acknowlegement of the need for this type of research corresponds to the importance the Commission places towards quantifying the relationship between energy efficiency and health, productivity and the impact on the California economy. See the draft plan (link above) for more information.

CASH
California's Coalition for Adequate School Housing (C.A.S.H.) since 1978 has promoted, developed and supported the enactment of new statewide and local funding alternatives for public K-12 school construction, maintenance, and modernization.

Classroom Air Quality
The quality of the air in Californiaís classrooms is under attack, most recently in a press release issued by the Environmental Working Group (EWG).

Indoor Air Quality in Relocatable Classrooms
Story about a report titled Reading, Writing and Risk: Air Pollution Inside Californiaís Portable Classrooms, prepared by Environmental Working Group. The report states that more than 2 million California children attend school in portable classrooms that can be a significant source of exposure to airborne toxics.

Clements-Croome, Derek
Professor Derek Clements-Croome is with the Department of Construction Management & Engineering, University Of Reading, Dept. of Construction Management and Engineering, Reading, UK. He has published a number of papers on the issue of productivity and the indoor environment (click here to download his publication list - a Microsoft Word file). CREATING THE PRODUCTIVE WORKPLACE is being published September 1999. Contact; EF Spon Publishers in London at £29.95. Tel: 00171 583 9855, Fax 0171 842 2298.
Email: D.J.Clements-Croome@reading.ac.uk

Contamination: Dried spores are the suspected culprit behind illnesses
By ALECIA FOSTER, Special to The Times
SAUGUS--Toxicologists and state health officials ripped up carpets and tore apart walls Wednesday in a Saugus portable classroom looking for potential toxins that may have caused illnesses in several children and teachers.

Daylighting Studies
Lighting Studies of the New Facility for the Alberta Research Council at the University Research Park are being conducted by Dr. Jim Love of the Faculty of Environmental Design at the University of Calgary.

Department Of Energy Weighs In On School IAQ Concerns
According to a U.S. General Accounting Office survey, one in five U.S. elementary and secondary schools suffer from indoor air quality problems, and 36 percent report "less-than-adequate" HVAC systems. As part of its building technology/building equipment program, the Department of Energy has researched school indoor air quality problems, the results of which will be published in a report, offering guidance to school boards, administrators, and local officials on how to address health concerns, titled "Causes of Indoor Air Quality Problems in Schools: Summary of Scientific Research."

DOE's Infiltration, Ventilation, and Indoor Air Quality Program
DOE's Research Program on Infiltration, Ventilation and Indoor Air Quality (IVIAQ) was established to provide the scientific knowledge and technological advances needed by DOE to reduce the energy used for thermally conditioning and distributing ventilation air in buildings and simultaneously provide good indoor air quality and thermal comfort for building occupants.

Ongoing and Future IVIAQ Research Efforts-
Productivity Studies in Commercial Buildings
Scientifically valid intervention studies are being conducted to ascertain statistically significant effects of environmental factors on productivity.
NOTE: I've written to DOE's IVIAQ Program and asked for information re. research/reports addressing comfort and productivity quantitatively; I'll add any updates here - Ray Darby.

Environmetal Health Information Service (EHIS)
The EHIS is a service of the NIH-National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the DHHS-National Toxicology Program.

EHIS Climate Change -
The Potential Health Impacts of Climate Variability and Change for the United States: Executive Summary of the Report of the Health Sector of the U.S. National Assessment.
Jonathan A. Patz, Michael A. McGeehin, Susan M. Bernard, Kristie L. Ebi, Paul R. Epstein, Anne Grambsch, Duane J. Gubler, Paul Reiter, Isabelle Romieu, Joan B. Rose, Jonathan M. Samet, and Juli Trtanj (108: 367-376)

Public Health Consequences of Global Climate Change in the United States - Some Regions May Suffer Disproportionately
Janice Longstreth (107S1:169-179)

Dengue Fever Epidemic Potential as Projected by General Circulation Models of Global Climate Change
Jonathan A. Patz, Willem J.M. Martens, Dana A. Focks, and Theo H. Jetten (106:147-153)

The Potential Effect of Global Warming on the Geographic and Seasonal Distribution of Phlebotomus papatasi in Southwest Asia
Eleanor R. Cross and Kenneth C. Hyams (104:724-727)

Potential Impact of Global Climate Change on Malaria Risk
Willem J.M. Martens, Louis W. Niessen, Jan Rotmans, Theo H. Jetten, and Anthony J. McMichael (103:458-464)

EHIS Schools -
An Approach to Management of Critical Indoor Air Problems in School Buildings

Search EHIS for other School Health - Related Information

Fritz Hollwich
Professor Emeritus, Dept Ophthamology, Univ Muenster, Germany
Discovered high levels of stress hormones in people sitting under cool-white fluorescent tubes for long periods, low levels in people under full-spectrum. Based on his research and others, cool-white fluorescents are banned in German hospitals and medical facilities

Fueling the Gas Debate (4/11/00)
New findings continue to fuel the debate over the safety and effectiveness of gasoline additives, such as methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) and ethanol, being used to reduce air pollution.

Greening The Bottom Line
20 case-studies are detailed in "Greening the Building and the Bottom Line: Increasing Productivity Through Energy-Efficient Design," a paper published the fall of q1994 by former RMI Research Scholar Joseph Romm and RMI Green Development Services Director Bill Browning.

Health and Energy in Schools
Provided by the Health and Energy Company, Omaha, NE

Heschong-Mahone Group (HMG)
Daylighting and Productivity In Schools
This page from Heschong-Mahone Group (HMG) includes:

- An article summarizing HMG's recently completed study on daylighting and productivity, which appeared in the Sacramento Bee on June 28,1999. The study has also been reported by CBS News and other media outlets.
- Executive Summaries of the two parts of the study, the Acknowledgements, and information on how to obtain copies of the reports.

The project performed a statistical analysis for correlation between human performance and the presence of daylighting in two building types-elementary schools and retail. It looked at student test scores for three school districts, including over 21,000 students and 2000 classrooms.

The study found that, all other things being equal, a highly significant and positive correlation between the amount of daylighting in a given classroom and student performance. The study also analyzed sales data for over 100 store sites of a chain retailer and again found, all other things being equal, a highly significant and positive correlation between the amount of sales and the presence of daylight.

Home Builders' Guide To Indoor Air Quality
Recent research indicates that pollutant levels in the air inside our homes and offices may be two to five times higher than the air outside. Since people spend 75 to 90 percent of their time indoors, the quality of the indoor air has become a major concern. The purpose of this brief guide is to give home builders, designers and developers, a general understanding of indoor environmental quality and ways to control it in new home construction so that they can respond to growing consumer concerns

Honeywell Controls
The basis of Honeywell's business: Control solutions products, systems and services to increase comfort, protect the environment, conserve energy and enhance productivity and safety in homes & buildings, industry and aviation & space.

How Energy Policies Affect Public Health
This report addresses the connection between energy policy and increased levels of respiratory and cardiopulmonary disease. In the case of buildings, the report cites the resource Romm J. Lean and clean management. New York: Kodansha America Inc.; 1994 in making the following statement (section: THE ENERGY SOLUTION: POLLUTION PREVENTION; Cleaner Buildings): "Research has shown that these (DOE advanced building) technologies not only reduce energy bills but can also increase worker productivity. For example, one post office that underwent an energy efficiency upgrade found that its productivity in sorting mail jumped 7%, which resulted in additional savings six to eight times greater than the energy savings. In other instances, absenteeism dropped substantially with new energy-efficient building technologies or greater use of natural sunlight." Written by Joseph J. Romm, PhD and Christine A. Ervin, MS.

Illuminations on Light and Health (No Internet Link Yet )
Home Magazine, 1997
Sally Euclaire Osborn

The Importance of Full Spectrum Lighting in the Health and Productivity of Workers (6/09/00)
Excerpted from International Academy of Chiropractic Occupational Health Consultants, Vol. 9, No.3, this article addresses the physiological benefits of natural light for improving health and productivity.

Indoor Air Quality and Health - A Multi-Disciplinary Approach
Keynote paper, Environment 97, by Jagjit Singh, Regional Director of Oscar Faber Heritage Conservation. Jagjit specialises in building health problems, heritage conservation and environmental issues. He has more than 15 yearsí experience as a Building Pathologist and expertise in heritage conservation in the UK and abroad in both academic and commercial environments. He has published several research papers, contributed to books and lectured widely on conservation, building pathology and building health problems. He has edited several books including Building Mycology, Management of Decay and Health in Buildings, Environmental Preservation of Timber in Buildings and Allergy Problems in Buildings. His current research focuses on interrelationships of building structures and materials with their environments and occupants.
This paper covers the multi-disciplinary approach to indoor air pollution and its effect on health, comfort and productivity. It summarizes sources of pollution that have an impact on buildings and their occupants, covering pollution sources (traffic, boiler flues, ventilation exhausts and building materials), and characteristics (physical, chemical, biological, size range, density etc).

Indoor Air Quality & Lead Poisoning Publications

Indoor Air Quality and Personal Exposure Assessment Program
The California Air Resources Board (ARB) carries out a non-regulatory Indoor Air Quality and Personal Exposure Assessment Program (Indoor Program) that includes sponsored research, exposure assessment, development of indoor air quality guidelines, and public education and outreach. The goal of the Indoor Program is to identify and reduce Californians' exposures to indoor air pollutants. The ARB is committed to pursuing actions to prevent indoor pollution and to effectively reduce the significant risk it currently poses to Californians.

Indoor Air Quality Update Newsletter

The Inside Story - A Guide to Indoor Air Quality

Innovative Design Group - Gary Bailey, Architect
Raleigh, North Carolina
CAT scores improve in daylit schools relative to non-daylit schools Energy costs dropped 22-64% in daylit schools
For more information see:
The Utility PhotoVoltaic Group (upvg@ttcorp.com), Interstate Renewable Energy Council (irec1@aol.com), and American Solar Energy Society (ases@ases.org); (1998) "Schools Going Solar - A Guide To Schools Enjoying the Power Of Solar Energy" - pg. 19 "Schools -and Students- Brighten in North Carolina."

Institute For Research In Construction - Indoor Environment
The institute's goal is to develop knowledge and techniques for the efficient design and operation of indoor
environments that maximize the comfort and productivity of occupants.

Integrated Comfort of Indoor Environments
Japanese research examines the different physical elements associated with the comfort of building occupants. Since these are interconnected in complex ways, maximizing comfort while minimizing energy use is a difficult task. In general, factors such as heat, air quality, moisture, light, sound levels and color will influence comfort. However, previous research has evaluated these elements in isolation from one another. In this project they are carrying out panel tests to evaluate the comfort level of building occupants while two of these factors are varied simultaneously. For example, they are conducting studies where the heat and light levels are optimized for maximum comfort.

Jacob Liberman, O.D., Ph.D.
Author of: Light: Medicine of the Future, 1991. Take off Your Glasses and See: A Mind/Body Approach to Healing Your Eyesight and Expanding Your Insight, 1995

Let There Be Light (No Internet Link Yet )
Business Record, 1997
Author: John Shors

Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL)
LBNL has done an extensive amount of research into issues of energy efficiency, health, comfort, and productivity:

A Survey: Indoor Air Quality in Schools
LBNL recently undertook a survey and critical review of the published literature on indoor air quality, ventilation, and IAQ- and building-related health problems in schools, particularly those in the state of California. The survey's objectives included identifying the most commonly reported building-related health symptoms involving schools, and assembling and evaluating existing measurement data on key indoor air pollutants most likely to be related to these symptoms. The review also summarizes existing measurements of ventilation rates in schools and information on the causes of IAQ and health problems in schools. Note: I am working on obtaining a copy of this - Ray Darby.
Contact: Joan M. Daisey, Indoor Environment Department, (510) 486-7491; (510) 486-6658 fax.

Assuring Building Performance: Creating BLISS
A software tool to be used to help assure the highest possible building performance (in health and productivity as well as energy). Provides designers, builders, and operators with consistent information throughout the life cycle of a building, opening opportunities for reaching performance potential. LBL initiated this internally funded project to explore these issues, with the goal of creating public-private partnerships to develop workable, cost-effective solutions to assuring building performance.

Building Technologies Program, 1994 Annual Report: Lighting Systems
Lighting for buildings, housing, signage, and streets accounts for 25% of all electrical energy consumed annually in the United States. New, efficient lighting technologies and strategies have the potential to reduce lighting energy use from 515 BkWh to 260 BkWh, a 50% savings equal to 20 billion dollars annually while increasing productivity and comfort.

Development and Demonstration Of High-Efficiency Lighting Torchieres
indirect lighting has seen a sharp increase in use due primarily to the increased demand for high quality, low glare lighting. We expect to see further increases in indirect lighting applications particularly with the ubiquitous use of the VDTs and heightened sensitivity relating to productivity issues. Currently productivity-related regulatory pressures in some Scandinavian countries requires the use of indirect lighting throughout most office spaces, and we expect this same move to quality-based lighting in American office.
Contact: California Energy Commission (CEC) Program Manager: Maziar Shirakh, Website: http://www.energy.ca.gov/research/PIER; Source: CEC PIER Transition Program, 1998-1999

Enhancing Indoor Air Quality
Research on the indoor environment can help reduce the cost of health problems related to poor indoor air quality. An improved indoor office environment can increase worker productivity as well.
If such measures avert even one or two absentee days per person, the savings can equal the total cost of all building energy used by that employee for an entire year.

Improved Productivity and Health from Better Indoor Environments
Recently completed analyses suggest that improving buildings and indoor environments could reduce health-care costs and sick leave and increase worker performance, resulting in an estimated productivity gain of $30 to $150 billion annually.

The Indoor Environment Program
The Indoor Environment Program conducts a broad program of research and technology development and dissemination activities directed toward greatly reducing the energy used for thermally conditioning and distributing ventilation air in buildings and simultaneously improving indoor air quality (IAQ), thermal comfort and the health and productivity of building occupants. Related research and technology development and transfer activities are also undertaken to reduce energy use and environmental pollution, as well as to improve human health and welfare, at the international level for environmental security.

Links to Fresh Air on the Web
Indoor air quality, healthy building management, and lead poisoning prevention -- IAQ Publications' newspapers and newsletters are the nation's leading source for everything you need to know. Here is where you'll find the news and information -- UPDATED EVERY WEEK -- that is critical to doing your job more successfully.

McIntosh middle school, Sarasota Florida, solves IAQ problems
Retrofit to school built in 1961 experienced a 19% annualized energy cost reduction despite a 21% increase in chiller tonnage, and a 200% increase in outside air supply. They went from an actual (measured) outside air supply of just 2 cfm per occupant, to ASHRAE 62-1989 compliance, saving almost $1000/month on a $9000/month utility bill

Minnesota School Combines Indoor Air Quality with Energy Efficiency
A new high school using state of the art, efficient, quiet HVAC technology to provide optimal indoor air quality.

The National Energy Policy Plan
The National Energy Policy Plan, SUSTAINABLE ENERGY Strategy - CLEAN AND SECURE ENERGY FOR A COMPETITIVE ECONOMY, July 1995. The relationship between energy and productivity is acknowledged in this National Policy Plan within the section Buildings: Overcoming the Barriers to Investments in Efficiency -

"Energy use in buildings accounts for 35 percent of total primary energy demand, 42 percent of total energy costs, and 35 percent of all U.S. carbon emissions. Because utility bills are a substantial part of family budgets, residential building energy use affects what kind of housing we can afford and how comfortable and healthy we are at home. Energy use in the commercial sector represents a cost to business and can have a substantial bearing on employee productivity. Recent studies have concluded that the overall potential for reducing energy use in buildings through cost-effective investments is on the order of 30 percent by 2015, with an overall enhancement of indoor air quality, employee satisfaction, and comfort."

The National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland
Re: SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), "along with food, air and water sunlight is the most important survival factor in human life."

Ott, John Nash
Dr. John Nash Ott was founder and former director of the Environmental Health and Light Research Institute, Sarasota, Florida. Dr. Ott pioneered in the science of photobiology and discovered the profound effects that qualities of light have on living organisms. Author of:
Health and Light, 1973
Light, Radiation and You, 1982
+ over 60 scientific papers
A 1973 study of 1st grade students in Florida found hyperactive children calm down and academic levels go up with full-spectrum light; Dental Society notes cavities reduced by 1/3.

Regional Economic Research, Inc. (RER) Study
RER conducted research into the educational impact of air conditioning for the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and has provided the following resources - for more information contact Jennifer Smead (Senior Analyst, Regional Economic Research, Inc. Consulting & Analysis Division, 11236 El Camino Real, Suite A, San Diego, CA 92130-2650, ph: (619) 481-0081, (800) 755-9585 ext. 423, fax: (619) 481-7550 :

o "Office of Technology Assessment, Teachers and Technology: Making the Connection," 1995.

o "Climate Controlled and Non-Climate Controlled Schools: An Evaluative Study Conducted in Pinellas County, Florida," Stuart, Fred and H.A. Curtis, 1994.

o "Effect of Temperature on Technical Training," The Journal of Applied Psychology, Mayo, George, 1955.

o "The Effect of Heat Upon the Performance of Men in High-Speed Aircraft: A Critical Review," USN, Special Devices Center, Rep. 151-1-17, Connell, Lois, 1948.

TRANE Company
A Guide to Understanding ASHRAE Standard 62-1989, explaining the provisions of ASHRAE Standard 62-1989, "Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality".

Usable Buildings
This site aims to help improve buildings, with hindsight from studies of past performance and foresight from well-considered strategies using simple but powerful tools to get useful results quickly. The main resources at present are Publications and Opinion.