Building-related illnesses are those for which there is a clinically defined illness of known etiology. These include infections such as legionellosis and allergic reactions such as hypersensitivity diseases and are often documented by physical signs and laboratory...
Year: 2008
Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) in Office Buildings: Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) Part II
Solutions to Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) usually include combinations of the following. First, pollutant source removal or modification is an effective approach to resolving an IAQ problem when sources are known and control is feasible. Examples include routine...
Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) Part I: Causes of SBS
Employee complaints can be due to two types of building problems: Sick Building Syndrome (SBS), and building-related illnesses. SBS is used to describe situations in which building occupants experience acute health effects that appear to be linked to time spent in a...
Health Effects from Indoor Air Pollutants
While pollutants commonly found in door air are responsible for many harmful effects, there is considerable uncertainty about what concentrations or periods of exposure are necessary to produce specific health problems. People also react very differently to exposure...
Mechanisms by which outdoor air becomes part of the indoor air environment
In a process known as infiltration, outdoor air flows into the building through openings, joints, cracks in walls, floors, ceilings, and around windows and doors. In natural ventilation, air moves through opened windows and doors. Air movement associated with...
Outdoor sources of Indoor Air Contaminants
Pollen, dust, fungi, industrial pollutants, and general vehicle exhaust are common outdoor sources of indoor air pollution. Other sources include exhaust from vehicles on nearby roads or in parking lots or garages, loading docks, odors from dumpsters, unsanitary...
Redecorating, remodeling, and repairing as sources of indoor air contamination.
Significant among office building activities are the frequent redecorating, remodeling and repair activities undertaken by new commercial tenants that often have very different spatial and other business needs from those of the prior tenant. These activities and...
People and their activities in office buildings generate indoor air pollution
These activities include cooking odors from company cafeterias, body odors and cosmetic odors. Work activities from non-HVAC system equipment contribute to the problem. There are emissions from office equipment (volatile organic compounds or "VOCs" and ozone), office...
Borrower’s Covenants
Post-closing covenants will be required for a borrower in a loan transaction, or a tenant in a lease transaction. 1. Borrower will be required to comply [in all material respects] with Environmental Requirements, to notify lender promptly in writing after knowledge in...
New York Brownfields Law Update: Denial of eligibility decisions mostly upheld
In 2003, the New York Legislature passed the Brownfield Cleanup Program, ECL § 27-1401 et seq. The benefits of the Brownfield Cleanup Program ("BCP") are many: the developer receives a liability release from the State following DEC oversight during the cleanup of...