In 1984, the World Health Organization suggested that up to 30 percent of new and renovated buildings had excessive complaints related to indoor air quality, which was directly related to Sick Building Syndrome. According to the EPA, Sick Building Syndrome describes situations in which building occupants experience acute health and comfort effects that appear to be linked to time spent in a building, but no specific illness or cause can be identified.
“While we still see cases of Sick Building Syndrome today, we have certainly come a long way from the less healthy buildings of the 1980s,” said KWK Architects Principal Javier Esteban. “Today, designers are focused more than ever on specifying and constructing healthy buildings, including residence halls. Just to put into perspective the importance of this issue, according to the EPA, the average American spends up to 87 percent of their time indoors, inside buildings. We live and breathe in man-made spaces, with a certain amount of filtered fresh air surrounded by products with high levels of chemicals.”