Modern indoor climate research in Denmark from 1962 to the early 1990s: an eyewitness report

Abstract  Modern, holistic indoor climate research started with the formation of an interdisciplinary ‘Indoor Climate Research Group’ in 1962 at the Institute of Hygiene, University of Aarhus, Denmark. After some years, other groups started similar research in Denmark and Sweden, and later – after the First International Indoor Air Symposium in Copenhagen 1978 – this research spread to many countries and today it is carried out globally by probably 2000 scientists. This paper recounts the history of Danish indoor climate research, focusing on the three decades from the early 1960s to the founding of the Indoor Air journal in 1991. The aim of this paper is to summarize what was learned in those earlier years and to call to the attention of researchers in this area the need of multidisciplinary research, mingling epidemiological fact-finding field studies with climate chamber studies and laboratory investigations. Practical Implications The review may be of interest to indoor climate researchers who want to know more about the early development of research on this multidisciplinary subject, as it emerged in a small country that undertook pioneering studies.