Editor's Note: This is the First of Three-Part Series on Sick Building Syndrome.

It was 1976. Environmental issues like air and water quality were hitting the public consciousness for the first time.

At an American Legion convention in Philadelphia, hundreds of attendees suddenly became ill, some violently so. Twenty-nine died.

Legionnaires’ disease and other building-related illnesses were borne into the country’s medical lexicon.

Legionnaires’ was a special case. The organisms causing the problem were easy to find, the symptoms consistent and the diagnosis clear. Such clear-cut cases of building-related illnesses, however, are difficult to find. That leaves the majority of such incidences in an anomalous category dubbed Sick Building Syndrome (SBS).

"Because SBS’s causes are a complex combination of building design, materials and maintenance further complicated by fungal and biochemical factors, indoor air quality may well be one of the most serious -- and least understood -- health problems facing industrial nations," write Texas Tech University researchers in VISTAS.

The most common sign of SBS is a high incidence of complaints of general malaise, including headache, lethargy, dry, irritated eyes, congested nose, irritated throat, cough and the like. These symptoms would appear after working in the building for a couple of hours and then improve after leaving the building for a time, said Alan Hedge, a professor in Cornell University’s Department of Design and Environmental Analysis.

Put simply, SBS results when sealed, energy--conserving structures recycle contaminated air.

According to a 1996 study by Cornell, at least one in every five occupants working in one of every 35 buildings had experienced symptoms of SBS.

Despite the science behind the diagnoses, SBS is controversial in the real estate and property management communities. Several cottage industries have risen to the occasion -- people who test buildings for signs of SBS, remediation specialists, developers of better carpet fibers and wall coverings, etc.

"This is a growth industry. Right now the market for people in this business -- not counting lawyers -- people who sell corrective devices, monitoring equipment and consulting services totals more than $2 billion," said John Newton, a partner at the Florida law firm of Berger, Davis and Singerman LLC. "There is increasing publicity about sick building syndrome.

"The forces that change people's behavior are sometimes litigation--driven. There is money in it, so it's going to grow. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes there really is a legitimate problem," Newton added. "Our building materials are getting more exotic, and the more chemically based they are, the more harmful they may theoretically be. Plus, in the 1970s, buildings were built air--tight because of energy concerns."

Newton cites a well--known Florida case involving the Polk Country Courthouse in Bartow, Fla. The building was constructed in 1987 for $37 million. The warm, humid Florida climate likely was a contributing factor as microbes infested the courthouse. It cost another $30 million to fix the building.

There are real cases of SBS, and likely there are frauds resulting from hysteria. Either way, it is up to building owners and managers to prepare for the worst. Putting off an SBS prevention program can cost a fortune, as the folks in Polk County found out.

In the coming days, I’ll tell you more about SBS, especially about what the real estate community can do to prevent infestation, renovation and costly litigation.

Click Here For Part II

Published: January 14, 1999

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Lesley Hensell covers commercial real estate and financial issues for Realty Times. Based outside of Dallas, Lesley works with high-tech and real estate clients as an independent marketing and public relations consultant. She also writes for several publications, including the Dallas Morning News. E-mail Lesley at: lhensell@earthlink.net

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