Effect of Thermal, Acoustic and Air Quality Perception Interactions on the Comfort and Satisfaction of People in Office Buildings

Ergonomics, Health, and Perceptions about Remote Domestic Workposts: Study in Areas of City of João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil

Home office (HO) stands out as one of the most promising and popular forms of teleworking, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, many companies want to implement or maintain this working method, given its numerous advantages. However, there are adverse effects that are mainly related to physical and mental health. This article presents ergonomic analyses of HOs in neighborhoods considered heat islands. Temperature levels, extreme low-frequency non-ionizing radiation (ELF-NIR), illuminance, physical layout characteristics, and physiological parameters of teleworkers were measured. The results reveal that 92% of these professionals work 6 to 8 h daily with an ambient temperature between 25 and 30 °C, illumination levels in the range 11.20-290 Lux, and ELF-NIR > 0.4 µT. The majority of teleworkers are overweight (BMI > 24.9), and some of them have blood pressure higher than average values (129 mmHg for systolic and 84 mmHg for diastolic) in addition to a reduction in the number of red blood cells and hematocrits. Symptoms such as burning sensation, dryness, tired eyes, redness, itching, and photophobia (light sensitivity) show a 68.95% similarity. These HOs do not meet the required ergonomic and health standards.

A review on indoor environmental quality in sports facilities: Indoor air quality and ventilation during a pandemic

Because of COVID-19, the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) in sports facilities has been a concern to environmental health practitioners. To develop an overall understanding of the available guidelines and standards and studies performed on IEQ in sports facilities, an extensive literature study was conducted, with the aim of identifying: (1) indicators that are being used to assess IEQ in different sports facilities; (2) indicators that are potentially interesting to be used to assess indoor air, in particular; (3) gaps in knowledge to determine whether sports facilities are safe, healthy and comfortable for people to stay and perform their activities. The outcome indicates that most current standards and previous investigations on IEQ in sports facilities mainly focused on dose-related indicators (such as ventilation rate), while building-related indicators (such as ventilation regime) and occupant-related indicators (such as IEQ preferences) were rarely considered. Little attention is given to the fact that ventilation systems may play an important role in the air quality of the location, and few investigations have been performed on the transmission of SARS-CoV-2. This study recommends more research into both occupant and building-related indicators as well as cross-modal effects between various IEQ factors for developing future standards on sports facilities.

Post-Occupancy Evaluation's (POE) Applications for Improving Indoor Environment Quality (IEQ)

To improve buildings and their characteristics, the feedback provided directly by users is generally fundamental in order to be able to adapt the technical and structural functions to the well-being of users. The post-occupancy evaluation (POE) fits perfectly into this context. The POE, through qualitative and quantitative information on the interior environment, makes it possible to identify the differences between the performances modeled in the design phase and the real performances experienced by the occupants. This review of 234 articles, published between 2006 and 2022, aims to analyze and compare the recent literature on the application of the POE methodology. The aim was to provide both a qualitative and quantitative assessment of the main factors that comprise the indoor environmental quality (IEQ). The study highlighted the factors that comprise the quality of the indoor environment, as well as the variables that are usually analyzed to describe the well-being of the occupants. The results suggested which are the most common approaches in carrying out POE studies and will identify the factors that most influence the determination of the good quality of an indoor environment.

Effect of Road and Railway Sound on Psychological and Physiological Responses in an Office Environment

The present study aims to explore the psychophysiological impact of different traffic sounds in office spaces. In this experiment, 30 subjects were recruited and exposed to different traffic sounds in a virtual reality (VR) office scene. The road traffic sound and three railway sounds (conventional train, high-speed train, and tram) with three sound levels (45, 55, and 65 dB) were used as the acoustic stimuli. Physiological responses, electrodermal activity (EDA) and heart rate (HR) were monitored throughout the experiment. Psychological evaluations under each acoustic stimulus were also measured using scales within the VR system. The results showed that both the psychological and the physiological responses were significantly affected by the traffic sounds. As for psychological responses, considerable adverse effects of traffic sounds were observed, which constantly increased with the increase in the sound level. The peak sound level was found to have a better performance than the equivalent sound level in the assessment of the psychological impact of traffic sounds. As for the physiological responses, significant effects of both the acoustic factors (sound type and sound level) and the non-acoustic factors (gender and exposure time) were observed. The relationship between sound level and physiological parameters varied among different sound groups. The variation in sound level hardly affected the participants’ HR and EDA when exposed to the conventional train and tram sounds. In contrast, HR and EDA were significantly affected by the levels of road traffic sound and high-speed train sound. Through a correlation analysis, a relatively weak correlation between the psychological evaluations and HR was found.

Advancement on Thermal Comfort in Educational Buildings: Current Issues and Way Forward

The thermal environment in educational buildings is crucial to improve students’ health and productivity, as they spend a considerable amount of time in classrooms. Due to the complexity of educational buildings, research performed has been heterogeneous and standards for thermal comfort are based on office studies with adults. Moreover, they rely on single dose-response models that do not account for interactions with other environmental factors, or students’ individual preferences and needs. A literature study was performed on thermal comfort in educational buildings comprising of 143 field studies, to identify all possible confounding parameters involved in thermal perception. Educational stage, climate zone, model adopted to investigate comfort, and operation mode were then selected as confounding parameters and discussed to delineate the priorities for future research. Results showed that children often present with different thermal sensations than adults, which should be considered in the design of energy-efficient and comfortable educational environments. Furthermore, the use of different models to analyse comfort can influence field studies’ outcomes and should be carefully investigated. It is concluded that future studies should focus on a more rational evaluation of thermal comfort, also considering the effect that local discomfort can have on the perception of an environment. Moreover, it is important to carefully assess possible relationships between HVAC systems, building envelope, and thermal comfort, including their effect on energy consumption. Since several studies showed that the perception of the environment does not concern thermal comfort only, but it involves the aspects of indoor air, acoustic, and visual quality, their effect on the health and performance of the students should be assessed. This paper provides a way forward for researchers, which should aim to have an integrated approach through considering the positive effects of indoor exposure while considering possible individual differences.

Factors Affecting Occupants’ Satisfaction in Governmental Buildings: The Case of the Kingdom of Bahrain

Satisfaction is a very important factor in improving productivity and performance in the work environment. This study aims to investigate the levels of occupants’ satisfaction with the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) in the governmental buildings in the Kingdom of Bahrain and to investigate the impact of occupants’ demographics and building attributes (non-IEQ factors) on these levels. For these purposes, the study used a questionnaire that has 17 indoor environmental quality (IEQ) factors in addition to a group of non-IEQ factors. The questionnaire was distributed by hand or using email to 279 employees in the Bahraini governmental sector. The findings of the study revealed that occupants in the Bahraini governmental buildings are not strongly satisfied with IEQ factors, especially with sound privacy, followed by visual privacy and amount of space, and then noise levels. The findings also showed that for most IEQ factors, men are more satisfied than women are, those who work in enclosed private offices are more satisfied than those who work in open-plan offices, and those who have central air-conditioning at their workplace are more than those who have a wall-mounted air conditioner. The impact of age, nature of work, duration of working in the current building and at the current workstation, weekly working hours, and proximity to the window were also investigated. Accordingly, a group of recommendations was suggested aiming to improve the levels of occupants’ satisfaction.

Business and Energy Efficiency in the Age of Industry 4.0: The Hulten, Broweus and Van Dijk Sensory Marketing Model Applied to Spanish Textile Stores during the COVID-19 Crisis

Strategic and tactical factors come into play in shop competitiveness where, in addition to the products sold, other marketing mix variables must also be considered. There are also subjective factors, such as perceptions through the senses. This became even more important when, as a result of the COVID-19 crisis and the forced closure of certain establishments with physical sales, it was necessary to increase profitability and efficiency. The aim of this study was to determine the exact role of sensory marketing in shop efficiency and profitability, based on the guiding principles of technology, innovation, and respect for the environment. We conducted an exploratory and experimental study consisting of the creation of a sensory strategy through the adaptation of the Hulten, Broweus and Van Dijk model on a specific establishment in the current era of Industry 4.0. The results indicate an increase in sales as well as customer satisfaction and happiness after implementing the relevant strategies. The conclusions show that this model is valid and reliable for physical retail establishments, and that these business strategies can significantly contribute to the optimisation of energy resources.

Association between Building Characteristics and Indoor Environmental Quality through Post-Occupancy Evaluation

Post-occupancy evaluations are common tools used to periodically assess Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) in tertiary buildings. Although the large amount of data collected from surveys contain valuable information, the influence of building characteristics on IEQ considering the different uses of the rooms and different types of occupants is rarely considered in the evaluation. This study presents an analysis of the association between building characteristics and IEQ in different building rooms (classrooms and offices) and different occupants (students and lecturers) using a post occupancy evaluation survey to 1013 occupants in 26 higher educational buildings in Spain under a Mediterranean climate. This research demonstrated that building characteristics influence IEQ perceptions of the different rooms in tertiary education buildings. The possibility of controlling the lighting, shadows or heating, ventilation air or conditioning (HVAC) systems are the most influential factors when analyzing IEQ. The findings of this research are of interest to facility managers aiming at implementing energy efficiency measures based on user-centric satisfaction or developing maintenance plans focused on IEQ enhancement.