Figure 1: A diagram of a house that focuses on potential causes of the sick building syndrome (LINK)
The term “sick building syndrome” often confuses many people. Despite the intuitive image of an architecture being quite literally ill, the expression is far from considering the biological states of such lifeless structures.
The sick building syndrome is a phenomenon in which building occupants suffer from general discomfort that could vary in terms of type and intensity, yet without a specific, identifiable cause or illness. For instance, symptoms range from skin itch or dryness up to acute dizziness and heavy nausea. Previously, this specific term was mainly used in the field of architecture, as the overall design and structure of the building is a major deciding factor in terms of causing the sick building syndrome. Recently, however, after the first few waves of COVID-19 and its mutations, researchers found correlations between the sick building syndrome phenomenon and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Like most infectious diseases, COVID-19 mainly spreads through interactions between groups of people. In order to counteract this spread, multiple countries quarantined COVID-19 patients (including those with the virus’ symptoms) and limited the general public from participating in outside activities for long periods of time. Naturally, people began spending more time indoors. While this policy does effectively prevent the spread of COVID-19, it must be noted that it also has the consequence of exposing people to a greater risk of suffering from the sick building syndrome.
Mohammad Reza Hosseini, Reza Fouladi-Fard and Rahim Aali from the Research Center for Environmental Pollutants are researchers who suggested that longer time spent indoors leads to higher chance of experiencing sick building syndrome. Specifically, they focused on the drop in air quality as indoor activities increase in frequency. For instance, they point out that actions like cooking and smoking greatly increase the chances of indoor air pollution, which tends to be especially critical in buildings with poor ventilation. Unsurprisingly, such indoor air pollution is a major cause that leads to the sick building syndrome. Additional causes that exacerbate the sick building syndrome include increased intensity of noise pollution from neighbors, chemical pollution from the overuse of disinfectants, and more.
To prevent this phenomenon from taking place, the researchers stressed the need to increase ventilation in buildings. They explain that this solution could be achieved by both having the inhabitants manually induce air circulation by frequently opening windows and reinforcing laws that restrict the minimum space for ventilation required in structures.
Q&A:
Hannah: You mentioned that poor ventilation can be improved by inducing air circulation and having better ventilation in structures. But how can the other causes like noise pollution and chemical pollution be prevented or mitigated?
Other causes like noise pollution and chemical pollution could be prevented by either making changes during the construction stage of the target architecture, or by reinforcing laws regarding rowdy residents and unhealthy indoor practices involving chemicals.
Anna: Is increasing ventilation in buildings the only possible solution to prevent sick building syndrome from occurring? What other possibilities are there?
Definitely not - considering how air pollution is only one of the multiple aspects of the sick building syndrome, other solutions for other aspects exist. For instance, enhancing laws regarding turbulent neighbors is a possible solution in terms of reducing noise pollution.
Sally: What’s the architectural perspective on sick building syndrome? Is it different from a medical point of view?
The medical point of view focuses more on the detrimental consequences that the sick building syndrome has on human health, while the architectural perspective focuses more on the physical aspects of the building that makes its inhabitants vulnerable to the sick building syndrome.
Jennah: Where are some countries around the world that are most severely experiencing the symptoms of ‘sick building syndrome’? What could be a shared prevalent factor observed in those heavily impacted areas?
The sick building syndrome tends to be more prevalent depending on specific regions within different countries, rather than countries as a whole. Shared factors are generally the target building’s lack of functionality, such as ventilation.
John: What are some other factors that can contribute to the sick-building syndrome other than airborne dangers?
A variety of different factors contribute to the sick building syndrome, including noise pollution and chemical pollution for instance.
Xavier: Where is this issue taking place? Is this discovery something that we as Korean residents should be concerned about?
The sick building syndrome and its relationship with more time spent indoors due to COVID-19 is a global issue that generally involves everyone, rather than being limited to specific locations or countries. As Korean residents, we should definitely also be concerned about this issue.
Fabian: Would environmentally-friendly architecture materials, often promoted by some construction companies, be an effective solution to alleviate the sick building syndrome?
Maybe - while the sick building syndrome is mainly caused by the target architecture lacking key components, using environmentally-friendly architecture materials could potentially be a healthier choice for its residents.
Works Cited
“'Sick-Building Syndrome' Fuelling India's COVID-19 Infections.” Down To Earth,
www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/health/-sick-building-syndrome-fuelling-india-s-covid-19-
infections-77026.
Hosseini, Mohammad Reza, et al. “COVID-19 Pandemic and Sick Building Syndrome.”
Indoor and Built Environment, vol. 29, no. 8, 2020, pp. 1181–1183.,
doi:10.1177/1420326x20935644.
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