International Journal on Architectural Science, Volume 4, Number 3, p.98-113, 2003 98 POLLUTANT MIGRATION FROM MANUFACTURING SHOP- FLOOR TO OFFICES WITHIN THE INDUSTRIAL BUILDING – A CASE STUDY IN SINGAPORE N.H. Wong and T.P. Ngiam Department of Building, School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore, Singapore (Received 27 November 2002; Accepted 25 April 2003) ABSTRACT This paper discusses the key findings of an indoor air quality (IAQ) audit to assess the IAQ status of the offices within a printing factory. Various objective and subjective measurements to co-relate the employees’ perception of the physiological and physical parameters were carried out. The objective measurements covered the chemical, physical and biological contaminants, and tracer gas tests for possible cross-contamination. The closest available local ENV 1996 guidelines were used to benchmark the performance standards. The study shows that high concentration levels of Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOCs) and formaldehyde (HCHO) were observed at all sampling locations, with indoor to outdoor ratio of greater than 2. This indicates a strong indoor generating source of TVOCs and HCHO. It is not surprising since the building uses substantial quantities of solvents in their daily operations coupled with an ineffective ACMV system and layout of the production spaces. 1. INTRODUCTION Many indoor air quality research studies have been focusing on commercial office buildings in Singapore. Since the release of the ENV IAQ guidelines [1], many expanded and extended IAQ research studies had been carried out by relevant researchers and students in the commercial buildings which further enhances the public awareness of the occupants and owners of the commercial buildings [2-8]. However, very limited studies have been conducted to monitor the IAQ status of offices within the industrial building [9-11]. There are also no guidelines for the design of offices within the industrial building. With improper zoning of the air conditioning systems, coupled with the poor compartmentalization of the offices from the production areas, cross contamination of the pollutants generated from the production areas could occur. This paper therefore discusses a study on the IAQ monitoring and assessment of offices in the production floor of a printing factory in Singapore. The key objectives of this study are: y To monitor the level of Indoor Air Quality of a printing factory. y To evaluate the level (if any) of cross contamination from the production floor to the offices located within the production floor. y To tabulate and compare the indoor air quality results with the relevant guidelines or industrial standards. y To correlate the occupants’ subjective measurement with the objective IAQ results so as to validate the occupants’ response towards their indoor work environment. y To propose the engineering solutions and improvement to enhance the quality of the indoor air environment. 2. METHODOLOGY 2.1 Introduction Mainly, the IAQ objective measurements and subjective evaluation cover the production offices on the production floor located at the first storey of the printing factory. For comparison and cross- referencing between the IAQ profiles of the production offices and production floor, a few sampling points were also taken in the production floor closest to the production offices. These sampling points from the production floor will help to evaluate the level of any air filtration and ex- filtration between these two zones. With this data, it will be able to provide a broad overview whether the personnel working in the production offices are also likely to be exposed to the pollutants from the production floor. Fig. 1 shows the methodology adopted for this study.