Publications
2011
Langevin, Jared; Wen, Jin; Hsieh, Sean; Novosel, Davor; Waring, Michael
Occupant Comfort, Productivity, And Personal Control In Twenty Air Conditioned Office Buildings Conference
vol. 4, 12th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate 2011 2011.
Abstract | BibTeX | Tags: comfort adaptation, high performance buildings, occupant satisfaction
@conference{Langevin2011,
title = {Occupant Comfort, Productivity, And Personal Control In Twenty Air Conditioned Office Buildings},
author = {Jared Langevin and Jin Wen and Sean Hsieh and Davor Novosel and Michael Waring},
year = {2011},
date = {2011-06-01},
urldate = {2011-06-01},
volume = {4},
series = {12th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate 2011},
abstract = {In recent years, the demand for energy efficient office buildings has been accompanied by a need to better understand how a working environment can affect occupant productivity and satisfaction with indoor ambient conditions. In this paper, we analyze occupant survey data from seven ``normative'' and thirteen ``high performance'' air-conditioned office buildings located across the United States. Here, the threshold between ``high performance'' and ``normative'' is defined as a LEED Silver rating. The analysis focuses on the relative impact that seven separate environmental variables (temperature, humidity, lighting, air freshness, draft, sound, and smell) have on overall occupant ratings of comfort and productivity in the workplace. Results indicate that temperature matters substantially more towards an occupant's overall rating of comfort than any other single environmental variable, and that conditions that are either too hot, cold, or humid have the greatest negative effect on occupant productivity. In addition, an occupant's level of personal control over his or her indoor environment is found to have moderate, statistically significant correlations with many of the individual acceptability ratings and with overall comfort. The personal control variable mattered more to female than to male acceptability ratings, and it was more strongly related to acceptability in the high performance buildings, perhaps due to better functionality of the control mechanisms in these newer constructions.},
keywords = {comfort adaptation, high performance buildings, occupant satisfaction},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {conference}
}
In recent years, the demand for energy efficient office buildings has been accompanied by a need to better understand how a working environment can affect occupant productivity and satisfaction with indoor ambient conditions. In this paper, we analyze occupant survey data from seven “normative” and thirteen “high performance” air-conditioned office buildings located across the United States. Here, the threshold between “high performance” and “normative” is defined as a LEED Silver rating. The analysis focuses on the relative impact that seven separate environmental variables (temperature, humidity, lighting, air freshness, draft, sound, and smell) have on overall occupant ratings of comfort and productivity in the workplace. Results indicate that temperature matters substantially more towards an occupant’s overall rating of comfort than any other single environmental variable, and that conditions that are either too hot, cold, or humid have the greatest negative effect on occupant productivity. In addition, an occupant’s level of personal control over his or her indoor environment is found to have moderate, statistically significant correlations with many of the individual acceptability ratings and with overall comfort. The personal control variable mattered more to female than to male acceptability ratings, and it was more strongly related to acceptability in the high performance buildings, perhaps due to better functionality of the control mechanisms in these newer constructions.