You’re holed up with colleagues in a meeting room for two hours, hashing out a plan. Risks are weighed, decisions are made. Then, as you emerge, you realize it was much, much warmer and stuffier in there than in the rest of the office.
Small rooms can build up heat and carbon dioxide from our breath — as well as other substances — to an extent that might surprise you. And as it happens, a small body of evidence suggests that when it comes to decision making, indoor air may matter more than we have realized.
At least eight studies in the last seven years have looked at what happens specifically in a room accumulating carbon dioxide, a main ingredient in our exhalations. While the results are inconsistent, they are also intriguing.
They suggest that while the kinds of air pollution known to cause cancer and asthma remain much more pressing as public health concerns, there may also be pollutants whose most detrimental effects are on the mind, rather than the body.
So can you trust the decisions made in small rooms? How much does the quality of air indoors affect your cognitive abilities? And as our knowledge of indoor air’s effects grows, do we need to revise how we design and use our buildings?
Is it warm in here?
Buildings in the United States have grown better sealed in the last 50 years, helping reduce energy used in heating and cooling. That’s also made it easier for gasses and other substances released by humans and our belongings to build up inside.
Although indoor air quality is not as well monitored as the air outdoors, scientists and ventilation professionals have extensively monitored carbon dioxide indoors.
Higher CO2 levels — say, above 1,200 parts per million (ppm) — often indicate a low ventilation rate. Worrisome substances emitted by new furniture, office supplies and carpets could be accumulating in the air.
“It’s long been thought of as an indicator of how bad the air in a space might be,” said Brent Stephens, a professor of architectural engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology.
Is it warm in here?
Buildings in the United States have grown better sealed in the last 50 years, helping reduce energy used in heating and cooling. That’s also made it easier for gasses and other substances released by humans and our belongings to build up inside.
Although indoor air quality is not as well monitored as the air outdoors, scientists and ventilation professionals have extensively monitored carbon dioxide indoors.
Higher CO2 levels — say, above 1,200 parts per million (ppm) — often indicate a low ventilation rate. Worrisome substances emitted by new furniture, office supplies and carpets could be accumulating in the air.
“It’s long been thought of as an indicator of how bad the air in a space might be,” said Brent Stephens, a professor of architectural engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology.