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The Space Station Freedom (SSF), with a 30-year projected lifetime and a completely closed-loop Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS), is perhaps the ultimate “Tight Building.” Recognizing the potential for the development of “Tight Building Syndrome” (TBS), and initiating actions to minimize possible TBS occurrences on SSF, requires a multidisciplinary approach that begins with appropriate design concerns and ends with detection and control measures on board SSF. This paper will present a brief summary of current experience with TBS on Earth. While many of the circumstances and methodologies garnered from investigating tight buildings on Earth are similar to those that might be encountered aboard SSF, the Station also presents a unique environment and a special set of constraints which will require an adaptation of previous protocols. Air contamination, including volatile organic compounds and microorganisms, will be the focus of the discussion.

The complexity of the atmosphere aboard the International Space Station (ISS) will require a multifaceted monitoring strategy for both nominal and emergency conditions to protect the health and safety of the crew. Samples to be collected for air-quality assessment will include both archival sampling for ground analysis and on-board automatic analyses. Archival samples will be analyzed after return by standard gas chromatography/mass spectrometry; a separate formaldehyde analysis will be conducted as well. On-orbit analyses are planned for specific combustion products and for specific volatile organic compounds of toxicological significance. The air-lock will be monitored after EVAs to ensure that no propellants are introduced into the cabin atmosphere. Additional remote samples can be collected in sample bags from other ISS elements and brought to the Volatile Organic Analyzer (VOA) for analysis.