Sick Building Syndrome is a collection of symptoms, largely respiratory, that people experience while in a particular building. It can have many negative impacts on different areas of life. It is absolutely awful for the people experiencing it, as well as for the owner of the sick building.
We’ve got some recommendations for keeping your building, and all the people in it, healthy and well.
What Sick Building Syndrome Is
According to the National Institute of Health, symptoms associated with Sick Building Syndrome can include dry cough, itchy skin, hoarse voice, allergies, asthma attacks, cold or flu-like symptoms, and eye, nose, or throat irritation. It can also include non-respiratory concerns like headache, nausea, dizziness, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, and even personality changes. These symptoms occur while people are in the sick building and largely go away when they leave the building.
What Causes Sick Building Syndrome
Older buildings tended to be drafty and not very well sealed against the elements. This has some serious downsides, not least of which is the increased cost and energy use of heating and cooling the building. New buildings, or newly weatherized buildings, are more economical and more environmentally friendly to heat and cool because they are sealed up more tightly. But that has a downside: any contaminants in the air are constantly recirculated, with no drafts allowing fresh air in. Potential contaminants could include anything from industrial cleaners to mold spores.
The Effects of Sick Building Syndrome
Aside from the specific symptoms experienced by individuals, the cost to the business, building owner, and indeed society can be quite high. Those who work in sick buildings are less efficient when they’re there, and they are absent from work more often. This decreased productivity can impact everyone: shareholders, clients, consumers, and more.
Avoiding Sick Building Syndrome
You definitely don’t want your building to be cold and drafty, and you don’t want to pay extra for heat and air conditioning that are being lost outside the building. How can you keep the air clean?
Air purifiers are a great solution. The NIH states that, in addition to regular HVAC system maintenance, air cleaning helps to control air pollution. While filtration systems capture larger particles as the air passes through a filter, air purifiers can actually kill pathogens with UV light. Those mold spores, for example, will have their chemical bonds destroyed by UV light as they pass through the purifier, and they will no longer be able to reproduce or cause illness.
If you want to improve indoor air quality for yourself, your family, or people who live in, work in, or visit a building you own, we’d love to talk with you about your options for an air purifier in Mountain Iron, MN.
Reach out to Mesaba Heating & Air Conditioning today. Service to you is success to us!