Does your building cough and sneeze?

Do you constantly have headaches, eye or skin irritation, sniffles, sneezes, dry cough, fatigue, dizziness or even flu? You could be suffering from the effects of a poorly constructed house.

Some houses are either built using inappropriate materials or are too close to one another, leading to lack of ventilation and poor lighting.

"Walking into a modern building can sometimes be compared to placing your head inside a plastic bag filled with toxic fumes," says John Bower, an author of several books on healthy home construction.

Sick building syndrome is a term used to describe situations in which building occupants experience acute health and discomfort effects that appear to be linked to time spent in a building, but no specific illness or cause can be identified.

Last month, the Director of City Planning and Nairobi City Council, Tom Odongo, alluded to a study that has shown that more and more people in Nairobi’s Embakasi area are suffering from respiratory diseases.

This syndrome is common in many low-income residential areas in Nairobi because of the limited or no spacing between buildings, which leads to poor ventilation.

Also, Nairobi being a swampy area, especially the plains of Eastlands, there is always the risk of damp raising, where water seeps into the walls, causing dampness in rooms. Using chemicals in a poorly ventilated building can also be hazardous.

Occupation certificate

"From the way a building is designed to the materials used for its finishes — whether it is the wooden floor or paint on its walls — the causes of sick buildings are frequently pinned down to flaws in the ventilation, level of dampness or air conditioning," explains University of Nairobi don and environmental design expert, architect Musau Kimeu.

According to Architectural Association of Kenya chairman Stephen Oundo, this problem has several faces and the blame lies either with the developer, the professions employed by the developer or the approving authorities.

Oundo says most of the city developments do not have an occupation certificate and, therefore, their human habitation status cannot be verified.

Having an occupation certificate shows that the building is suitable for occupancy. City councils or Municipal councils issue this certificate to show that a building has been built in compliance with the Building Code.

Kimeu, who is the chairman of the Environmental Design Consultants Chapter of the Architectural Association of Kenya, adds that dampness in your house causes mould, potentially causing allergic reactions and respiratory problems.

In the office, you find that employees get symptoms such as eye, nose and throat irritation as well as neurotoxic or general health problems.

Kimeu, notes that the main cause of such discomfort is poor indoor air quality, which is as a result of poor ventilation.

Says Kimeu: "The big challenge of course is for everyone to understand why these symptoms occur. There are times you walk into the office and you start having a headache, dry cough or feeling dizzy and too tired to execute your work. It could be because of a sick building."

A World Health Organisation report suggested that up to 30 per cent of new and renovated buildings worldwide may be linked to the symptoms of sick building syndrome.

Kimeu says that apart from inadequate ventilation, sick building syndrome can be attributed to chemical contaminants like volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from office machines, carpets and furniture as well as biological contaminants like bacteria, moulds, dust mites and viruses. These can cause acute effects on the occupants of a building.

These biological contaminants may breed in stagnant water that has accumulated in ducts or ceiling tiles, which may in turn lead to symptoms like cough, chest tightness, fever, chills, muscle aches, and allergic responses such as mucous membrane irritation and upper respiratory congestion.

What then can be done to correct this? Oundo says cross ventilation should be incorporated in building designs to increase air circulation and ensure proper ventilation.

"This can be done by having windows on opposite sides of the room, resulting in free airflow across the space," explains Kimeu.

Oundo also says ventilation standards in the Building Code should be adhered to and this can be achieved through proper and transparent enforcement by the relevant local authorities.

Kimeu, on the other hand, says it is important for architects to ensure there is sufficient natural ventilation in buildings and for users to ensure there is no contamination through dampness or water spillage.

"Nairobi’s tropical upland climate is so good that all buildings, if properly designed, can be naturally ventilated," says Kimeu.

There are also those building materials that are toxic in nature and architects should specify non-toxic building materials that have been tested and approved.