Electrostatics comfort in buildings and offices: Some experiences and basic rules

Electrostatic charges may cause several damages to electronic devices, sensible products or processes. They may also lead to electric discharges which represent a hazard for explosive atmospheres or may cause serious problems in equipment in hospitals. For these well-known situations there are standards that give rules and solutions to users and designers. However, there is still a large field of possible electrostatic problems which cannot be classified into damages or dangers but that represent rather a problem of discomfort to users. Some examples are electrostatic discharges in homes, offices, shops, supermarkets, public areas or public car parks. The general solutions proposed in the standards for electrostatic charges in industrial environments, may not be applicable or cost-effective for these situations. These cases represent an original technical problem aimed at solving the troubles caused by electrostatic charges to users. Solutions may be inexpensive, definitive (i.e. without maintenance or requiring very long periods for maintenance) and, in some situations, they may reduce at a maximum their visual impact for esthetical reasons (e.g. the use of coating with conductive black painting are seldom acceptable). This paper will describe some representative examples of electrostatic discomfort in non-standardized environments, gathered after 15 years of experience. Some practical solutions will be proposed.