Visual discomfort assessment in an open-plan space with skylights: A case study with POE survey and retrofit design

2021 ◽  
pp. 111215
Author(s):  
Yu Bian ◽  
Jianhe Luo ◽  
Jiawen Hu ◽  
Lu Liu ◽  
Yuzhi Pang
Keyword(s):  
Visual Discomfort ◽  
Open Plan ◽  
Retrofit Design

Speech Intelligibility Parameters for Evaluating the Perception of Background Noise in Open-Plan Office Users: A Case Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Serrano Ruiz
Keyword(s):  
Background Noise ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Physical Factors ◽  
Space Design ◽  
Transmission Index ◽  
Open Plan ◽  
Design Characteristics

This document presents a case study of acoustic analysis in an open-plan office. Since Mexico does not have a standard for evaluating acoustic conditions in offices, it is relevant to compare different acoustic evaluation methods used for open-plan offices. According to several studies, one of the main acoustic characteristics for open-plan office spaces is speech intelligibility. Therefore, the purpose of this document is to compare psychoacoustic parameters to evaluate speech intelligibility in open-plan offices. We analyzed physical factors as reverberation and speech clarity in different office points, as well as semantic factors based on subjective methods with standardized values of the quality of speech intelligibility. The study was carried out under real open-plan office conditions in a library in a university in northern Mexico. The study factors of interest were type of sound, sound source, and location of the listener, with Reverberation Time (RT), Speech Transmission Index (STI) and Loss of consonant articulation (%ALCons) as the measures of impact on intelligibility. This case study provides additional evidence of the relationship between intelligibility and the position of sound sources; also, it was noted that location of listeners influenced analyzed intelligibility parameters. On the other hand, this case study offers information concerning to use psychoacoustic parameters for subjective classification of quality of the speech intelligibility to evaluate how is background noise perceived in open-plan office users. However, it is noteworthy that this study represents a single office with its own interior and space design characteristics.

Effects of activity-based workspaces on employee belongingness

Facilities ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shang Gao ◽  
Sui Pheng Low ◽  
Hua Qian Gong
Keyword(s):  
Attachment Theory ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Sense Of Control ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Corporate Real Estate ◽  
Positive Sense ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Open Plan

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of the activity-based workspace (ABW) on employee belonging. Place attachment theory (PAT) is used as a proxy to understand and measure the belongingness of employees to their physical workplaces. Design/methodology/approach A case study of a bank’s newly retrofitted ABW office is conducted, providing fresh perspectives on the effect of ABW on employee belonging. A questionnaire survey was used to understand employee belongingness. Surveys are conducted with employees of the bank (n = 100) who experienced the transition from the conventional open-plan office with designated seats to an ABW, to understand and compare the change in employee belonging after the transition, by studying the level of belonging achieved in the space before and after. Findings The results showed that there was a positive sense of belongingness amongst employees working in the ABW space, as per the PAT framework and an increased sense of belongingness compared with the previous conventional open-plan office. However, ABWs were found to also have a negative effect on employees’ sense of control and security. Originality/value Maslow’s hierarchy of needs indicates that a feeling of belonging is fundamental to humans. The need for belonging is also applicable in the workplaces of today’s progressive corporate organisations, where there is increased pressure and incentive to appeal to and retain talent. This research was conducted in response to the huge growth in interest in activity-based working across the corporate real estate community. As there has been no prior research done in the area of the emotional need for belongingness in ABW.

scholarly journals Acoustic Issues in Open Plan Offices: A Typological Analysis

Buildings ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 161
Author(s):  
Sara Delle Macchie ◽  
Simone Secchi ◽  
Gianfranco Cellai
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Analysis Procedure ◽  
Acoustic Parameters ◽  
Office Environment ◽  
Measurement Campaign ◽  
Reduced Height ◽  
Open Plan ◽  
Office Environments

This paper reports the acoustic issues of open plan office environments. According to a detailed research based on the scientific literature of the most suitable acoustic descriptors recommended for the open plan offices analysis, the main typological-functional configurations of these environments have been analyzed in order to identify six spatial typologies. The variation of acoustic parameters of these typologies has been evaluated by using a sound pyramid tracing software. The analysis procedure was calibrated in a case study of an office environment, where a measurement campaign was carried out. Results point out that the acoustic improvement of open plan offices can usually be achieved by introducing a sound absorbing false ceiling and dividing panels between working positions, but there are different issues depending on spatial geometries of the office. Better results are referred to office typologies characterized by reduced height and equal plan dimensions.

The impact of weather data sources on building energy retrofit design: case study in heating-dominated climate of Italian backcountry

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 264-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosa Francesca De Masi ◽  
Antonio Gigante ◽  
Silvia Ruggiero ◽  
Giuseppe Peter Vanoli
Keyword(s):  
Building Energy ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Weather Data ◽  
Energy Retrofit ◽  
Design Case ◽  
Design Case Study ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Retrofit Design

scholarly journals Effects of Building Microclimate on the Thermal Environment of Traditional Japanese Houses during Hot-Humid Summer

Buildings ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayaz Hosham ◽  
Tetsu Kubota
Keyword(s):  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Thermal Environment ◽  
Cooling Effect ◽  
Shading Effect ◽  
Indoor Thermal Environment ◽  
Air Temperatures ◽  
Outdoor Spaces ◽  
Open Plan ◽  
Indoor Spaces

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of building microclimate on the indoor thermal environment of traditional Japanese houses, focusing especially on the shading effect of trees as well as the cooling effect of spraying water. Basically, the indoor thermal environment was found to follow the outdoor conditions due to the open-plan and lightweight wooden structure. Nevertheless, air temperatures of the living rooms in the two case study houses were lower than the corresponding outdoors by approximately 0.5 °C and 2 °C, respectively. It was found that the semi-outdoor spaces acted as thermal buffers for promoting cross-ventilation as well as pre-cooling to provide “warm but breezy” conditions to the surrounding indoor spaces. The results showed that the surface temperature of semi-outdoor spaces can be reduced by shading and water spraying, among which shading has prolonged effects and water spraying can reduce the surface temperature during peak hours and the following night.

Retrofit design of new units into an existing plant: Case study: Adding new units to an aromatics plant

1994 ◽  
Vol 18 (8) ◽  
pp. 743-753 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Rapoport ◽  
R. Lavie ◽  
E. Kehat
Keyword(s):  
Retrofit Design
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