scholarly journals Gender Matters! Thermal Comfort and Individual Perception of Indoor Environmental Quality: A Literature Review

2021 ◽  
pp. 169-200
Author(s):  
Edeltraud Haselsteiner
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Environmental Quality ◽  
Energy Efficient ◽  
Influencing Factor ◽  
Indoor Environmental Quality ◽  
Indoor Climate ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Quality Health ◽  
Sick Building

AbstractThe use of technology in construction has allowed a significant increase in comfort and the construction of energy-efficient buildings. However, for indoor environmental comfort, there is no universal standard that fits all. The indoor climate is perceived individually and the requirements are subjectively shaped. In this paper, a literature review is carried out to describe particular aspects relevant to gender. The aim is to raise awareness of these aspects in order to advance equality orientation as an integral part of planning and energy-efficient building concepts. The findings show that thermal comfort is an essential parameter, and up to 3 °C of differences between women and men were found. This difference is most evident in offices where women show a better cognitive performance in a warmer environment, while men do better in colder temperatures. Gender was also found to be an influencing factor of satisfaction with humidity, acoustic conditions, visual comfort, privacy, air quality, health aspects, light preferences, and brightness perception. Moreover, sick-building syndrome is more common among women. In conclusion, the literature confirms that essential indoor environmental quality (IEQ) parameters vary significantly across men and women and should be taken more into account in the practice of building technology.

ASSESSMENT OF INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY AND OCCURRENCE OF SICK BUILDING SYNDROME IN SMALL OFFICES IN PENANG, MALAYSIA

2015 ◽  
Vol 75 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ang Qiu Mei ◽  
Md Azree Othuman Mydin
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Quality ◽  
Sick Building Syndrome ◽  
Quality Measurement ◽  
Comfort Level ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Indoor Environmental Quality ◽  
Sick Building ◽  
The Difference

This study was done to investigate the relationship between indoor environmental quality and prevalence of Sick Building Syndrome in six small offices inPenangIsland. Indoor environmental quality measurement was conducted according to relevant standards. There are totally Sixty workers were selected to participate in an electronic questionnaire survey. Questionnaire was used to record the comfort level of respondents in the case studies and level of sick building syndrome faced by respondents. Through indoor environmental quality measurement, it is found that most of the offices facing the lighting and noise problem. The result from the questionnaire shows that in overall, the occupants satisfy with their working environment in term of indoor environmental quality although the result also shows the opinions of occupants on dissatisfaction on certain indoor environmental parameter according to case study. The study also found that most of the occupants feel drowsy and fatigue when they work within the offices. Besides, due to the difference of the indoor environmental quality of the buildings, the occupants are suffered from different symptoms of the sick building syndrome.

Short-term Measurements of Indoor Environmental Quality in Selected Offices – Case Study

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ludmila Meciarova ◽  
Silvia Vilcekova ◽  
Eva Kridlova Burdova ◽  
Ilija Zoran Apostoloski ◽  
Danica Kosicanova
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Quality ◽  
Indoor Air ◽  
Indoor Environmental Quality ◽  
Indoor Climate ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
Healthy Environment ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
The One

Decent quality of indoor air is important for health and wellbeing of building users. We live, work and study in indoors of various types of buildings. Often people are exposed to pollutants at higher concentrations than these that occur out-doors. Continual investigation of indoor air quality is needed for ensuring comfort and healthy environment. Measuring and analysis of occurrence of physical, chemical and biological factors is the first step for suggestion of optimization measures. Inside school buildings there are often inadequate indoor climate conditions such as thermal comfort parame-ters or ventilation. The aim of this study was determination of indoor environmental quality in selected offices in the building of elementary school in Slovakia. The values of operative temperature were not within the optimum range of values for the warm period of the year in one of the monitored offices. The intensity of illumination was lower in the two offices. Low levels of particulate matters were measured except the one office where permissible value was exceeded by 7.6%.

Evaluation of occupants’ well-being and perception towards indoor environmental quality in Malaysia affordable housing

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Syahrul Nizam Kamaruzzaman ◽  
Ainur Mardiha Azmal
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Quality ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Questionnaire Survey ◽  
Sick Building Syndrome ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Health Condition ◽  
Indoor Environmental Quality ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Housing Area ◽  
Sick Building

Purpose This paper aims to identify the indoor environmental quality in an affordable housing, as well as the health condition of users. Furthermore, it aims to find the relationship between quality of the indoor environment (IEQ) and sick building syndrome (SBS) and the satisfaction level of the occupants towards the IEQ factor, as well as the importance of the factors in the occupants’ view. Additionally, the purpose of this pilot study is to validate the questionnaire and identify the possible outcome of this research for the main study. Design/methodology/approach There are a few methods to achieve the objective of this paper: first is by literature review and second is by a survey. There are two types of survey made: observation survey and questionnaire survey. The purpose of observation survey is to survey the surrounding and the condition of the apartments, while questionnaire survey was distributed to the respondents in the affordable housing area. Next, is analysis and discussion of the survey, and finally, summary. Findings Aside from achieving the validity of the questionnaire survey, the results of the survey have found that the respondents are dissatisfied with the noise and glare level, as well as the amount of artificial lighting in their unit. Additionally, they have rated health, ventilation and amount of air movement as the most important IEQ factors. More importantly, the occupants have experienced the symptoms of SBS and the health condition of the building occupants. The results show that the most frequent symptoms affected the respondents are fatigue, dizziness and a headache. Originality/value This paper has indicated the IEQ in the affordable housing and identifies the health risk of occupants, specifically in Malaysia.

scholarly journals The Comfort Map—A Possible Tool for Increasing Personal Comfort in Office Workplaces

Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 233
Author(s):  
Ágnes Borsos ◽  
Erzsébet Szeréna Zoltán ◽  
Éva Pozsgai ◽  
Balázs Cakó ◽  
Gabriella Medvegy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Environmental Quality ◽  
Considerable Effect ◽  
Comfort Level ◽  
Office Building ◽  
Indoor Environmental Quality ◽  
Visual Comfort ◽  
Acoustic Comfort ◽  
Open Plan ◽  
Office Employees

Previous studies have shown that indoor environmental quality (IEQ) parameters may have a considerable effect on office employees’ comfort, health and performance. Therefore, we initiated a research program to help occupants identify IEQ parameters they perceive as risk factors for their health in an office and enhance their comfort levels in an office environment. Since we assumed that office employees might have different indoor environmental quality expectations related to their work area and that these differences could be measured, our objective was to develop an office ‘comfort map’ based on occupants’ individual IEQ preferences. Thus, the goal of the comfort map would be to help tailor office spaces to their occupants’ health and comfort expectations. The comfort survey was developed to assess the comfort-related opinions of the occupants, based on IEQ parameters (visual comfort, acoustic comfort, air quality and thermal comfort) of a chosen open-plan office building. The survey also assessed the degree to which the given IEQ parameter was considered a health risk factor by occupants or caused a negative comfort sensation for them. The survey was filled in by 216 occupants. The answers were then analyzed with the help of a frequency table depicting relative frequency. The measurements of IEQ parameters took place in an open-plan office in the chosen office building (a Hungarian subsidiary’s office building belonging to an international company in Budapest). The occupants had different opinions regarding the perceived effects of the IEQ parameters on their health and comfort. Almost two-thirds of the respondents (64.8%) were dissatisfied with the adjustability of the noises and sounds IEQ parameter at their workstation. Furthermore, half of the respondents (50.1%) were dissatisfied with the adjustability of ventilation. Most of the occupants (45.8%) considered noises and sounds as the IEQ parameter that had a negative effect on their health. There were also IEQ differences between different areas of the office space. Based on these results, a comfort map was developed for the office. The comfort map contains information about the IEQ characteristics of each workstation by depicting the thermal comfort, carbon dioxide, visual comfort and acoustic comfort characteristics of a given workstation on a relative scale. Based on the thermal, air, acoustic, and lighting differences between the workstations, occupants can select their preferred workstations when a desk-sharing system works. Although still in its pilot phase, the comfort map could increase the chances for office employees to find the workstation best suited to their IEQ expectations. This could improve occupants’ overall comfort level, which could in turn enhance occupants’ productivity and mental as well as physical health.

Regression of Perceived Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) and Prevalence Sick Building Syndrome in Museum Environment

2013 ◽  
Vol 19 (10) ◽  
pp. 3107-3110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raha Sulaiman ◽  
Syahrul Nizam Kamaruzzaman ◽  
Noor Rosley Hanif ◽  
Naziah Mohd. Salleh
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Quality ◽  
Sick Building Syndrome ◽  
Indoor Environmental Quality ◽  
Sick Building ◽  
Museum Environment

AN EVALUATION OF INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY AND OCCUPANT WELL-BEING IN MANITOBA SCHOOL BUILDINGS

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Radwan ◽  
Mohamed H. Issa
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Indoor Air Quality ◽  
Environmental Quality ◽  
Indoor Air ◽  
Well Being ◽  
School Buildings ◽  
Indoor Environmental Quality ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Green School

This exploratory research aims to evaluate indoor environmental quality in the classrooms of three school buildings in Southern Manitoba, Canada, and to evaluate the well-being of these schools' teachers as it pertains to their perception of their classrooms' indoor environment. The schools include a middle-aged, conventional school; a new, non-green school; and a new, green school certified using the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system. The methodology involved using a mobile instrument cart to conduct snapshot measurements of thermal comfort, indoor air quality, lighting and acoustics in classrooms and an occupant survey to evaluate teachers' long-term satisfaction with their classrooms' indoor environmental quality. The results showed that the new, green and new, non-green schools' classrooms performed better than the conventional, middle-aged school's classrooms with respect to some aspects of thermal comfort and indoor air quality only. Teachers in the new, green school and in the new, non-green school were more satisfied than teachers in the conventional, middle-aged school with their classrooms' overall indoor environmental quality, lighting quality and indoor air quality. Surprisingly, the new, green and new-non green school classrooms' performance were very comparable with the new, green school's classrooms performing statistically significantly better with respect to relative humidity. Similarly, none of the differences in teachers' satisfaction ratings between the new, green and new, non-green school were statistically significant.

scholarly journals Allostatic Load Model Associated with Indoor Environmental Quality and Sick Building Syndrome among Office Workers

PLoS ONE ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. e95791 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chien-Cheng Jung ◽  
Hsiu-Hao Liang ◽  
Hui-Ling Lee ◽  
Nai-Yun Hsu ◽  
Huey-Jen Su
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Quality ◽  
Allostatic Load ◽  
Sick Building Syndrome ◽  
Office Workers ◽  
Indoor Environmental Quality ◽  
Load Model ◽  
Sick Building
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document