I live and work in a small country in Europe. I work as a software developer, and the air quality in my office is poor.
The office is about 10x4 square meters with 33 people in it. We have no ventilation system, no air conditioning system, and my coworkers don't want to open the windows.
Plus in winter/autumn we have heating system too. I feel heat from heating system and heat from people. Not to mention there is no ventilation for 9 hours. Every day I get a strong headache from lack of oxygen. This is wrecking my health and keeping me from working at my best.
When I try to open windows, my co-workers complain that they feel cold. I don't see any reason to leave the office for 10min and get fresh the air.
Eventually I forced our managers to issue a paper about air ventilation. They said that three times in a day I legally (lol) have right to open windows and freshen the air for 15 minutes. And you know what? I open the windows and colleagues don't leave. They wait until I leave then close the windows.
In the happy days where I can open windows three times a day it is still not enough oxygen. Everyday I come home tired and I don't want to do anything at home.
My biggest problem is that all four places I have worked, the experience is the same.
My country is small and there are not a lot of programming companies, so I can't change my workplace. I don't understand this guys. They don't want to do simple ventilation - the most valuable thing at work which influences productivity. I just don't understand.
My main question is: what can I do about such poor air quality in the office?