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Even quite large corporate occupiers make decisions about their cleaning services, whether they are contracting them out or employing their own labour direct, purely on the basis of perfunctory information on the standard and frequency of cleaning and the terms and conditions of work.

Sheena Wilson, project co‐ordinator, reports on the findings of the UK's most comprehensive office environment investigation The office environment survey is the largest survey of office workers perceptions of comfort and health ever to have been carried out in this country. It reports on a questionnaire survey of 4373 workers in 46 buildings. These buildings were of varied age and quality and were selected to cover a range of ventilation systems. The organisations taking part included local and central government professional consultancies and large private companies.

Who is a winner in the office quality stakes, and what is the path to success? Peter Ellis and Sheena Wilson of Building Use Studies take a closer look at this elusive concept.

In an early issue of Facilities (Vol 2/No 10, October 1984) we categorised the main light sources, giving details of rated power, efficacies (the ratio of light output to power consumed), lamp sizes and costs. Here, we update some of this information, indicating developments rather than lamp characteristics.

Meeting rooms, training areas and conference rooms are the places where people come face‐to‐face with clients or colleagues and where the ideas and decisions which power an organisation are meant to be made. Two good reasons, you might think, for making sure that the lighting in such places enhances their appearance and atmosphere. Yet they are often relegated to the basements and cores of office buildings, with no windows and a lighting scheme more suited to open plan areas with at least some access to natural light. How often have we all sat around tables looking at the shadows under the eyes of the people opposite, trying to avoid the glare of the light fitting just above them or fighting off sleep for sheer lack of visual stimulation.

A recent study sponsored by Herman Miller looked at the way in which 22 large corporations plan and manage their office space. One finding stood out — the need for a clear identification of the facilities manager's role.

This paper attempts to summarise the proceedings of a conference on sick buildings held on 22nd May, 1987. Although the conference was aimed initially at sick buildings syndrome it was extended by the speakers to cover all building related sickness, their causes, their avoidance, and the financial consequences. The conference was organised by Henry Stewart Conference Studies.

Lighting consultants are in little doubt about why they exist: ‘Electrical consulting engineers tend to consider the subject of lighting as a quantitative engineering issue as opposed to the qualitative visual subject it clearly is,’ states Lighting Design Partnership (LDP) in its company brochure. The net result is that most artificial lighting in this country is an unimaginative and depressing compromise which results from the lack of a common language between architect and engineer.

Several British universities and polytechnics are now actively planning courses in facilities management The first of these, a seminar series at the University of Strathclyde's Building Performance Research Unit (BPRU), was held during March and April this year. The Polytechnic of North London's Faculty of the Environment has drafted courses at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels in facilities management, and is currently adding a facilities management component into a new degree course in management for the catering and leisure industries. Several other universities are also actively considering this as an area for potential development, including the Open University and the University of Nottingham.

Air pollution indoors is fast becoming a major concern of those involved in the design and maintenance of modern buildings. But poor air quality is just one of several factors held responsible for causing symptoms of ‘sick building syndrome’, defined by the World Health Organization as irritation of the nose, throat and eyes, together with headaches and feelings of lethargy. Such symptoms can significantly lower the productivity and morale of a building's occupants. It is quite possible that indoor air pollution will become one of the major environmental issues of the next decade.