For 15 years, Cyert Hall has had a reputation for making workers sick. Sudden temperature swings affect the comfort zone in many areas. Mysterious black matter falls from the ceiling and covers surface areas of various worksites. Fumes and other smells travel through the vents to assault the senses of the occupants. The list of maladies associated with this building reads like an X-file from the government repository.

Extending west of Warner Hall along Forbes Avenue, the three-story building has always looked impressive with its exterior facing of both reflective and see-through glass. People using the first floor as a corridor to Warner Hall or the post office will see no sign that Cyert has made people sick, and 15 years of tests and surveys have shown little reason why it should.

But the problems persist, and therein lies a long and perplexing story. Ava Ford was a computation center secretary when she became one of the building's first occupants in 1984. She remembers the serious symptoms that some employees developed right after moving in. A lot of people were not able to work in the building due to getting sick, she says. Several people were even forced to quit their jobs and leave the building permanently.

Ford did not become ill, but she did fall victim to the strange black matter that apparently fell from ducts in the ceiling. Black dust particles covered every surface of my office for the six years I worked there, she says. The source of the black particles has never been identified conclusively, although the problem continues to plague employees in certain areas of the building.

Cyert Hall was built in 1983-84. It was first called the University Computing Center. In July 1984 the first group of Computer Science employees, who had been suffering from a space crunch in Wean Hall, moved into A-level basement rooms when the interior walls and corridors were considered habitable. After they moved in, construction continued upstairs on the first floor and downstairs on the B-level or sub-basement.

Dave McClory, an electronics technician, was also among the first group. He remembers strange odors, some people getting sinus attacks every day and some complaining of headaches and eye irritation.

Carpet glue and formaldehyde found in new wood particles are common culprits for making people ill in new buildings, which are said to suffer from "sick building syndrome" arising from unhealthy indoor air contamination. The syndrome is associated with poor air circulation and with closed buildings where windows cannot be opened. Occupants of sick buildings experience symptoms ranging from respiratory problems to nausea and nosebleeds.

Cyert Hall was designed to be a closed building with an air recirculation system. The original HVAC system consisted of six units, each with a dual fan speed. Make-up air was drawn from the outside and controlled by temperature and system pressure changes.

The configuration of the initial system allowed pollutants to enter from the construction site. This was the source for many of the ailments experienced by the early occupants. The Environmental Health and Safety department identified and corrected the problem, yet people continued to get sick.

When the rest of the occupants moved into the building later in 1984, the initial set of complaints decreased considerably although there were still people experiencing respiratory problems, headaches and eye irritation.

Then another set of complaints began as the new occupants added fatigue and drowsiness to the list of ailments.

The problems surrounding the building remained a source of mystery and confusion. In 1984-85, Environmental Health did a survey to determine possible air contamination from new furniture, walls and carpet glue. Formaldehyde levels and organic vapor levels were checked. The results came back negative. There was no scientific evidence to suggest that the levels were high enough to cause the health complaints reported.

According to Marty Altschul, the director of facilities operations, Cyert Hall is the first building I've seen using an air recirculation design where the term sick building syndrome could be applied or perceived. Altschul argues that the building's continued problems could be based on perception.

The fact that people were moved into the building while it was still under construction created a bad sense of the building right from the beginning, he says, stressing that a psychological factor must be considered in buildings that are thought to be contaminated.

Clearly, other buildings have been built using the same design as Cyert Hall with generally good success, says Madelyn Miller, a chemical safety specialist with Environmental Health and Safety. Everything has been tried to allay the complaints and concerns of these Cyert Hall employees. She points out modifications made to the building and the repeated tests and surveys that failed to associate Cyert Hall with sick building syndrome.

In 1986 the university surveyed people who worked in the building to determine if there was any correlation between complaints and any measurable environmental parameters. The survey showed a statistically significant but weak correlation between health complaints, particulate levels in the air and cigarette smoking, which at the time was still allowed in the building.

One continuing concern was the mysterious particulate matter that fell from the ventilation system and covered the surface areas of various offices. This black, smutty substance was thought to be residue from the air filtering system, although it did contain chunky particulatesthat puzzled everyone. In 1987 a sample of airborne biological organisms and their byproducts showed an excess of normal background levels. The source of the particulates could not be determined, although the tests showed they were harmless and non-toxic. The mysterious particles continue to fall in Cyert.

By then, complaints were already surfacing about inadequate temperature regulation, odiferous areas and low humidity. The ventilation system was revamped that spring with two new air handling units to provide additional building ventilation and better control of the building heat load. This should have eliminated the source of these complaints.

Further testing in 1988 to review the environmental and engineering work in the building showed there were significant deficiencies in the ventilation system. During a subsequent cleaning of the ductwork in June 1988, problems were discovered in the newly installed make-up air system. Physical Plant and an engineering consulting firm evaluated the findings and took corrective action.

Regardless of the actions taken by building management, the employee complaints continued. Although a large percentage of the health complaints dropped since the building was first occupied, some problems persisted.

In 1993 the Cyert Hall Indoor Air Quality Committee was formed to review and resolve employee issues. The committee consisted of Pat Keating, chief financial officer; Alex Hills, chief information officer; Ron Carter, assistant vice president for Facilities Management, Chuck Bartel, director of operations, Computing Services; and Ken Burner, facility coordinator for Computing Services.

This committee, which still exists, conducted a thorough survey of the background of Cyert Hall. From that data, the committee built a timeline of problems encountered and actions taken, and also set up a survey for occupants so the committee could see problem areas from the employees' viewpoint. As part of being attentive to the needs and concerns of the employees, the committee compiled a progress report that charts complaints and solutions through 1997. It can be found at the Cyert Hall website at http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/kb13/cyh.

Although the committee has addressed all of the issues that have surfaced to date in Cyert Hall, it has not completely healed the old wounds that run deep for some employees.

Norm Brosoky is a computer engineer who works in a lab on the A-level of Cyert Hall. He has suffered since entering the premises.

~I have been an occupant of the building for 15 years and have just learned to work around the continual episodes of respiratory ailments and skin rashes I experience,~ he says. Brosoky copes by drinking lots of water and taking what he calls FAB's or fresh air breaks.

Other inhabitants of the A-level complain of a variety of ailments. One employee reported becoming so nauseated that she had to leave the building. Another reported nosebleeds and severe sinus irritations. Others had frequent episodes of shortness of breath, headaches and eye and throat irritations.

Burner, the facility coordinator, is the initial contact for employees who have issues they would like to see resolved. The major problems with the air quality have been corrected and there is no evidence that conditions still exist that should be making people sick, he says.

Burner feels that most people are content with the performance of the building. Anyone with concerns, he says, should come directly to him. That's what our committee is set up for, he states. If we don't know the problems people are experiencing we cannot correct them.

Another avenue for expressing concerns and making comments about the building's performance is a b-board set up specifically for this purpose. People can check org.acs.ucc-discuss to see what is happening daily throughout the building.

Walter Wong, system group manager, has often posted to this discussion group. He works on the first floor of Cyert Hall, where room temperatures often fluctuate.

Wong says the automatic monitoring system is sometimes off, which causes the cooling system to shut down. This often occurs overnight. In the morning, Wong has entered his office to find it as hot as 91 degrees. When asked about physical symptoms he has encountered, Wong says his only complaint is due to comfort levels. I don't think my health is in significant danger. There are plenty of other jobs out there and I would leave the building it if I thought it was unsafe.

Pete Bronder, head of data communications, has worked in the building for 15 years. He spent four years on the A level. The air quality on the A level was much worse than what I am experiencing now, Broder says. The major complaints on the first floor, he says, are varying comfort levels due to temperature extremes.

~Most of the offices on this floor are equipped with monitors to measure these fluctuations,~ he adds. The monitors track relative humidity and temperature levels. When both are showing normal levels, a comfort display lights up to indicate an ideal environment.

Comfort levels are also the main concern on the top floor of Cyert Hall. Radha Rao has a glass enclosed office facing the new Purnell Center. My office is often too hot, but I do not have any health concerns about working in this building, Rao says.

Paul Placeway and Krzysztof Czuba share a top-floor office. Placeway says he has no real health problems due to being in the building, but expresses concern over not being able to open the windows. Even though our office is not located near the kitchen at the front part of the floor, we can immediately smell odors from that location when coffee is brewed or food is cooking.

Czuba shares this concern, explaining that a strange, sweet odor once infiltrated the office and made him dizzy. The smells are disturbing. We get everything from the kitchen along with strange odors from unknown sources, he says. Czuba echoes Placeway's feeling that the comfort level could greatly increase if the windows opened.

The problems with Cyert Hall appear to be ongoing. Black particulate fallout occurs regularly on all three floors, although the source is still a mystery. New ceiling vents were placed in some offices that had repeated fallout, eliminating some but not all of the problems.

Temperature fluctuations continue throughout the building, although most of the offices are now equipped with monitors. To cut down response time for corrective action, employees have been instructed to contact Physical Plant directly with any complaints.

Even short-term discomfort in the work environment is distressing for employees, however. The stresses of daily decisions and deadlines are compounded when the room is too hot or too cold. People become annoyed and irritable when they wast valuable time trying to get comfortable enough to perform properly. A pleasant work space, however, leads to increased productivity. On that point there's universal agreement.

The Intelligent Workplace located on the top floor of Margaret Morrison was designed with the goal of creating an optimal working environment. The advanced heating and air-conditioning systems assure optimal temperatures and air flow efficiency. All the windows can be opened and optimal amounts of light are provided. Walls of windows runnning almost floor to ceiling provide the best possible views. The comfort level of the employee is a top priority for this workplace.

Perhaps this role model of the perfect working environment will one day set the standard for every building on campus. Employees will lose their aversion to the workplace, and harmony will prevail. When that happens, the ominous skull-and-bones screen saver on one Cyert Hall computer will look like a relic of another time.

Kathy Brown Sutton