Assessment of indoor air quality and sick building syndrome in new government headquarters building of Selangor Public Works Department

Abstract

In circumstantial “indoor generation”, 90% of the allotted time is spent in the building. While office workers spent 33.3% of their time indoors, giving an average of eight hours in the office building. It is vital for workers to preserve their health, comfort, and well-being, simultaneously optimizing work productivity and job performance in an office. This study aim to determine the indoor air quality (IAQ) condition and prevalence of sick building syndrome (SBS) in the new government headquarters building of Selangor State Public Works Department (PWD) in relation to the office environment and indoor air pollutants. The study investigates the building background, emphasizing the indoor air quality assessment strategies. Real-time measurement techniques were conducted in two-time slot sampling, morning and evening, at 11 sampling points. Indoor air quality measurement carried through identifies the indoor air quality's physical parameters i.e. temperature (ᵒC), relative humidity (% RH), and air movement (m/s), whereas chemical parameters i.e. carbon dioxide (ppm), carbon monoxide (ppm), the volatile organic compound (ppm), formaldehyde (ppm), ozone gas (ppm), and respirable particulates PM10 (mg/m³). The physical parameters data findings were analyzed according to the Industrial Code of Practice on Indoor Air Quality (ICOP) 2010, and energy efficiency practice according to Malaysian Standard MS 1525:2019. The results show mean readings for temperature 23.5 ᵒC, RH 59 %, and air movement 0.15 m/s. Thus, it identifies that the building experience temperature varies and inadequate ventilation. While the chemical parameters results show mean readings for, carbon dioxide 1.21 ppm, carbon monoxide 546 ppm, the volatile organic compounds 0.17 ppm, formaldehyde 0.04 ppm, ozone 0 ppm, and respirable particulates PM10 0.07 mg/m³. The chemical parameters were analyzed according to ICOP, and the results reach the standard requirements, shows the building is devoid of any harmful chemical contaminants. Furthermore, the sick building syndrome (SBS) study investigates the SBS symptoms among office workers associates with the building environment. There were 120 questionnaires distributed to the building occupants to acquire their perception of the building environment. Using SPSS analysis, the result indicates 15.3 % of the building occupants experience SBS symptoms. The analysis includes the potential people exposed to the SBS symptoms, female workers are 63.3 %, pregnant women are 1.3 %, senior citizen workers are 4 %, and workers with medical history like chronic asthma, sinus, and eczema are 21.4 %. Further analysis on SBS symptoms related to the building environment using the Pearson correlation test indicates the significant correlation is 0.001 (<0.01), showing that the building occupants' SBS symptoms are not allied with the building environment. Therefore, the study concludes that the headquarters building of Selangor State Public Works Department is classified as a non-SBS building.