It is a social challenge to maintain the mental and physical health of workers, to motivate them, and to improve their intellectual productivity in order to achieve sustainable economic growth. Many studies are currently being conducted under the assumption that an office space’s design, including thermal environment, sound environment, etc., influences the intellectual productivity of its workers. The understanding of such a relationship is becoming increasingly important due to the introduction of new styles of working, such as activity-based working (ABW) that enables workers to select a seat that matches their work or preference, and this is gaining research attention. Previous studies have found that interactive sounds heard from a conference space in an open plan office interfere with workers' workability. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate not only the sound environment but also the comprehensive indoor environment in an ABW office to ensure that there is a space with an environment suitable for each task.

 In this study, we investigated office workers’ satisfaction to compare satisfaction levels and intellectual productivity of the workers in an ABW office and a conventional office. Based on the results from questionnaires, changes were made to the layout of the ABW office to resolve sources of dissatisfaction. A questionnaire and field survey were conducted once more to evaluate the effects of this remodeling, and the ABW and conventional offices were compared again.

 Based on the indoor environment satisfaction levels, it was hypothesized that it is important to increase the number of ‘concentration’ seats and to consider the sound environment to improve intellectual productivity. In the questionnaire, it was found that as communication and individual space satisfaction decreased more ABW office workers reported a decrease in their work efficiency. It turned out that simply introducing ABW into an office does not necessarily contribute to work efficiency and intellectual productivity improvements. As a result of improving the layout according to the expected amount of communication required with high partitions to block line of sight and sound, an increase in work efficiency was reported compared with the ABW office before the improvements. Although we examined the satisfaction of each environment, significant differences were not seen in each of the environments among ABW offices. Since comparisons were made within a small room with the same number of people and objects, changes in congestion state of seats, sound environment, etc. may have been insufficient. For example, there is a possibility that there was not enough unevenness of environment, such as a quiet environment and a lively environment, and the environment did not suit personal preferences.

 From the above, we found that in order to improve intellectual productivity it was necessary not only to introduce various furniture and free seats, but also to change space planning and the working style itself according to anticipated actions. For instance, it is not convenient to use paper documents if working staffs keep moving, so it is necessary to digitally document the paper used in the an ABW office. In order to improve intellectual productivity, it is necessary to pay attention to the number of seats, the sound environment, the spatial environment, and more.

 A railway station is a space where unspecified people go to take trains, and hence, it is important to provide proper information for the convenience and safety. In Japan, most stations provide aural information through a public address system. However, most stations are finished with materials of good durability and fire resistance, causing insufficient sound absorption. This implies that the background noise (BGN) is often loud and announcements are unclear.

 In the past studies, many surveys were conducted on environmental noise issues in the railway stations as well as subjective evaluation tests on listening difficulty using simulated announcements. However, only a few reports have measured data of announcements. This study is aimed to grasp the sound environment of the railway stations, and we conducted field measurements at eight stations in the metropolitan area and the subjective evaluation test. For the test sound, the announcements at the stations were recorded and simulated using a 3-dimensional sound-field simulation system in an anechoic room.

 To investigate the sound pressure level (SPL) of the BGN, the announcements, and other sources of noise, we recorded the environmental sound for 15-20 minutes at 30 measurement points. From the collected data, A-weighted SPL of each sound source was obtained. The BGN ranged from 65 to 70 dB at most measurement points while the maximum value was 72.4 dB. The BGN of UG and SS stations with lower daily ridership was relatively lower than the others, between 54.7 and 60.6 dB, and 64.4 and 66.1 dB, respectively. Four measurement points with the BGN over 70 dB were more crowded than other measurement points; one measurement point was reverberant while the other three had a low ceiling, inferring that such factors contributed to the high level of BGN. The SPLs of the announcements were higher than those of the BGN, and the difference did not exceed 10 dB at most measurement points. Even at the same measurement point, SPLs of the announcements varied depending on their content. The differences among the announcements exceeded 5 dB at 11 measurement points on average, while the maximum difference was 13.1 dB.

 The evaluation of the listening difficulty and the noisiness of the announcements had five categories: “1.Not at all,” “2.Slightly,” “3. Moderately,” “4.Very,” and “5.Extremely”. Sixty announcements were edited to about 20 to 30 seconds in length and used as test sound. The noisiness of the announcements had high correlations with the SPLs in general. When the announcements reached 74 dB, the level of noisiness became “2.Slightly”. Moreover, subjects felt “3.Moderately” at 82 dB, and “4.Very” at 90 dB. When the ΔL(SPL difference of the BGN and the announcement) increased, the rating tended to be lower. However, even when the ΔLs were the same, the range of listening difficulty varied widely. Factors such as the clarity of the announcement and sound quality of loudspeakers are also likely to have influenced the listening difficulty. To clarify the relationship between the listening difficulty and the ΔLs, the logistic regression analysis modeled the percentages of the listening difficulty ratings. When the ΔLs were +10 dB, about 29 % of subjects reported the female announcement difficult to hear and 50% reported the male announcement difficult to hear. Compared with the past study, the percentage of the listening difficulty was relatively higher. As aforementioned, unclarified factors in the environments caused by architectural plans of the stations should be further studied.

 It is vitally important to estimate visibilities of all visual targets in real environments to assume and maintain visual safety. As luminance images in real lit environments are relatively easy to obtain, it is reasonable to attempt a method of estimating visibilities of objects using these images.

 The authors have proposed C-A graph that can estimate visibilities from luminance images using a contrast profile method. The C-A graph presents C-value (luminance contrast) and A-value (adaptation luminance) as vertical and horizontal axes for varying object sizes respectively. This graph expresses three factors necessary for the visibility estimation. In the previous study, the visibility threshold C-value estimation method of circular objects was established. Besides, it suggested that visibility evaluation of sighted people with normal visual acuity can be estimated from the ratio of the visibility threshold C-value.

 In addition, as preliminary steps of study for low-vision people, authors have conducted visibility evaluation experiments using circular objects with uniform or non-uniform (checkered) background for sighted people with low visual acuity. As the checker contrast and the checker size were increased, it became difficult to recognize the presence or the shapes of circular objects.

 In this study, same experiments were conducted for low-vision people with various disease types and disability grades. Twenty-seven low-vision people participated in the experiments. Circular objects and backgrounds with varying background luminance, luminance contrast and object size, were displayed on 27 inch digital display screen. When the background was non-uniform (checkered), luminance contrasts and sizes of the checkers were varied, too. The subjects observed circular objects displayed on uniform or non-uniform background with both eyes from a distance of 2500(625) mm. They evaluated visibility of circular objects using a 5-step scale of 0-4.0=cannot see any object, 1=can see some kind of object, 2=can see a circular object but not clearly, 3=can mostly see a circular object and 4=can clearly see a circular object. The experiment results were analyzed using a contrast profile method and were presented on the C-A graph.

 When the background was uniform, visibility threshold C-values of a part of low-vision people could be estimated by the estimation method established from experiment results of sighted people. However, it was suggested that required higher luminance contrasts in large circular objects depending on the visual field disturbance. Besides, it was suggested that visibilities of people with symptoms of photophobia or hemeralopia was decrease as the background luminance (A-value) increased.

 When the background was checkered pattern, as the checker contrast and the checker size were decreased, the visibility evaluation was similar to the uniform background evaluation. Additionally, as the checker contrast and the checker size were increased, it would become difficult to recognize the presence or the shapes of circular objects. There are the same as experiment results of sighted people with low visual acuity of the previous study. In order to improve the visibility, it is important to not increase the size and the luminance contrast of the background pattern, not to mention to increase the size and the luminance contrast of the visual object.

 Further development of the visibility estimation method is needed for applying to various conditions.

 Fungi as a microbial contamination of indoor environments may cause a complex spectrum of health effects. Spores of fungi may cause allergies, asthma and sometimes contain mycotoxins. Microorganisms also produce many volatile organic compounds (microbial volatile organic compound (MVOC)). The toxicological aspect of MVOCs may be negligible because of low concentrations in indoor spaces, however MVOCs sometimes attribute an unpleasant smell.

 This study aimed to measure volatile organic compounds emitted from fungi by the small chamber method and investigate emission patterns of MVOCs as fungal growth processes. Furthermore, to investigate the emission compounds from HVAC systems in a building that had odor problems in the room in summer season, the biological contaminants on the humidifier were identified and the small chamber tests for emissions from the humidifier element and biological contaminants were carried out.

 The Cladosporium cladosporioides, Penicillium pinophilum, Aspergillus niger and mixture of these three fungi on the PDA (potato dextrose agar) medium and DG18 (dichloran glycerol) agar without glycerol were installed in the stainless small chamber (20L), and the emitting volatile organic compounds were sampled with DNPH cartridge and Tenax sampler during 2 weeks. The temperature and humidity inside the chamber were kept at 25 °C and 70-90 %, respectively. The samples were analyzed with a high performance/pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) and a gas chromatograph / mass spectrometer (GC/MS). The sampling of emitting MVOCs and observation of the fungal growth under a microscope were carried out at fixed intervals for 2 weeks.

 Fungal threads of all samples invisibly grew until 2 days, and growth and changing color of spores to black or yellow were occurred after 3 or 4 days. P. pinophilum changed its color to blue after 7 days again. The relationships between the growth of the fungal threads and spores, and MVOC emitting rates were investigated. Fungi could not be visible but grew their thread, however invisible fungi emit MVOCs such as acetaldehyde, acetone, 2-methyl-1-propanol and etc. When the fungi grew with their spores and change their color, other MVOCs such as 3-methyl-1-butanol, 1-octen-3-ol were emitted in 2 weeks. Then as stopping growing, MVOC emissions decreased.

 From the chamber test for the humidifier element and fungi on agar mediums, Fusarium sp. was detected on the elements and MVOC from Fusarium sp. could be identified as dimethyl disulfide. Since dimethyl disulfide was also detected from the humidifier element by the chamber method, the source of the odor in the room could be the humidifier element surface contaminated by Fusarium sp.

 The state of the increase in the nonconformity rates of air environment in specific buildings was investigated using local government survey reports. The factors in the increase of carbon dioxide concentration were analyzed in consideration of the increase of ambient concentration, the characteristics of indoor concentrations and the characteristics of the government reports. The results were as follows.

 1 The nonconformity rates of humidity, temperature and carbon dioxide concentration have increased with the number of specific buildings since 1999. And reports made by the owners of specific buildings are substituted for inspections by government officials in most prefectures.

 2 One of the factors in the increase of nonconformity rates of temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide concentration is the increase of reports using measurement data by building maintenance suppliers. The nonconformity rates of humidity and carbon dioxide concentration were higher in northern prefectures.

 3 The frequency of indoor carbon dioxide concentration in specific buildings in Tokyo was similar to that in Osaka. The frequency distribution of the differences between indoor concentration and outdoor concentration in Tokyo follows Weibull frequency distribution.

 4 The ambient concentration of carbon dioxide has increased especially in urban areas. The increase of ambient concentration is thought to increase the indoor concentrations in specific buildings.

 5 The nonconformity rates of carbon dioxide concentration depend on not only ambient concentration but also the rates of ventilation reduction and survey methods by governments. The nonconformity rates were calculated using an equation composed on the basis of Weibull frequency. The coefficients of these factors were calculated using the equation and the survey data on all Japan.

 6 The increase of ambient concentration made the nonconformity rate of indoor concentration 3.1% higher and ventilation reduction made it 7.2% higher and the change of survey method made it 11.6% higher in these nineteen years.

 These results showed that the increase of nonconformity rates depends on several factors. Therefore it is necessary to design integrated countermeasures in order to decrease these nonconformity rates.

 This study was aimed to clarify the environmental dynamics in the life cycle of woody resource and its utilization through material flow analysis and lifecycle assessment, which were focused on the areas of Japan nationwide and Hiroshima Prefecture. In addition, from the viewpoint of the party involved in building industry, discussion was made about effective measures for environmental impact reduction. The results were as follows:

 1) Material flow analysis

 A set of material flows was developed as of the year 2016 to represent the whole life cycle of woody resource, which actually included processes in building industry, forestry and lumbering, and pulping and paper making. Also, as for processes with large outputs, they were subdivided into as many segments as practically possible.

 The results showed that, in comparison to the Japan (nationwide, 2010) and Hiroshima Prefecture (2012) respectively in the amount of lumber consumption, the outputs of our study (2016) showed only slight increase; and also that, in each area of Japan and Hiroshima, the ratio between domestically produced to imports was nearly 1 to 1. However, as for consumption of domestic lumber, nearly 80% of it was used for buildings in Japan and only a little more than 40% in Hiroshima. This clear-cut difference suggested that most careful consideration should be given to way of resource utilization in building industry. In addition, the material flows developed in this study helped reveal the dominant factor in each process quantitatively.

 2) Lifecycle assessment

 Based on the developed material flows, the environmental loads were calculated by using LCA, and thus way to reduce the loads in the building industry was discussed. In the outputs from Integration, which is a single index, the loads caused by woody resource used for buildings were a little over 40% in Japan, and more than 20% in Hiroshima Pref. In both cases, the dominant factor was log manufacturing or the process segment of growing cedar and cypress trees which includes foresting and harvesting. The results of damage assessment, which is composed of the four safeguard subjects (human health, social asset, biodiversity and primary productivity), showed that in the primary productivity the same segment was most responsible for the damages and that it affected integration significantly. And the dominant factors of primary productivity were consumption of woody resources of cedar and cypress. In view of other subjects, almost all impacts were caused by paper and pulping industry.

 Based on the results of the impact assessment, sensitivity analysis on the log manufacturing process was examined. As a result, it showed that the influence of the reforestation rate was extremely large. In this case study, it was set at 35% in Japan Nationwide and 23.7% in Hiroshima Pref. Therefore, these improvements resulted in being indispensable. If the issue of reforestation rates could be solved, the next biggest impact would be the fossil fuel consumption in each process. This suggest that reduction in fossil-fuel consumption in the lumbering process should also be very important.

 The author regret and apologize for mistakes in Fig. 9 on page 925. The value of “impact on consumption per household” in the figure should be corrected. This correction does not affect the other parts of the paper including the conclusions. The author would like to apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.