Published in ASHRAE Journal 44(7): 97-98, 2002. IEQ and the Impact on Employee Sick Leave

When selecting minimum ventilation rates, employers should balance the well-recognized energy costs of providing higher minimum ventilation rates with the expected, but less well quantified, health benefits from a higher ventilation rate. This is a summary of the paper by Milton, et al. that found low employee sick leave associated with high ventilation rates in a set of buildings located in Massachusetts. A simple cost-benefit analysis also is presented.