scholarly journals The Impact of Indoor Environment Quality on People on the Autism Spectrum

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Beth Noble
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Sensory Processing ◽  
Indoor Environment ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Environment Quality ◽  
Autistic People ◽  
Indoor Environment Quality ◽  
Employment Rates ◽  
The Impact

<p>People on the autism spectrum are widely reported to have differences in how they process sensory information compared to people not on the autism spectrum (neurotypical). These differences in sensory processing are prevalent regardless of age or IQ level. All people are affected by the built environment, with indoor environment quality (IEQ) linked to comfort, productivity, health and wellbeing. However, there is little research about the direct impact of the built environment on autistic adults.  This study investigates whether differences in sensory processing impact how autistic people experience the built environment, and whether there were patterns in the effects of different IEQ factors. Adults on the autism spectrum (n=83), neurotypical control adults (n=134), and adults with other conditions affecting sensory processing or who were closely related to someone on the autism spectrum (n=59) participated in an anonymous online survey. Participants were asked about their home and workplace, experiences of the general built environment, and general sensory sensitivity.  Autistic participants, who reported significantly higher sensory processing scores than Control participants, consistently reported higher levels of discomfort in both their home and workplace environments, feeling more overwhelming, stressed, and distracted, and less safe than the Control group in both environments. Though shopping malls, supermarkets, other retail and medical buildings are all essential buildings that people need to frequent to meet material needs and stay healthy, they all caused greater discomfort and distress for Autistic participants, who also avoided them more often. The odds of an Autistic participant avoiding buildings was 8.8 times greater than the Control group. Higher discomfort and distress reported by Autistic participants in office buildings may affects the low employment rates in this population.  People and People Noise were the IEQ factors that, across multiple environments, were rated as highest as a cause of discomfort and avoidance and had the largest difference between Autistic and Control participants, followed by Glare and Electric Light. Meanwhile, Temperature was rated equally highly by both groups, having a large effect but no difference between groups, with a similar trend seen in Air Quality and Air Movement.  Autistic people already struggle with social isolation, early mortality, and low employment rates, which are likely compounded by greater sensory stress from the built environment. Further research into understanding the relationship between the effects of the indoor environment and the differences in sensory processing in people on the autism spectrum is essential to creating solutions for a more accessible built environment.</p>

scholarly journals The Impact of Indoor Environment Quality on People on the Autism Spectrum

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Beth Noble
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Sensory Processing ◽  
Indoor Environment ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Environment Quality ◽  
Autistic People ◽  
Indoor Environment Quality ◽  
Employment Rates ◽  
The Impact

<p>People on the autism spectrum are widely reported to have differences in how they process sensory information compared to people not on the autism spectrum (neurotypical). These differences in sensory processing are prevalent regardless of age or IQ level. All people are affected by the built environment, with indoor environment quality (IEQ) linked to comfort, productivity, health and wellbeing. However, there is little research about the direct impact of the built environment on autistic adults.  This study investigates whether differences in sensory processing impact how autistic people experience the built environment, and whether there were patterns in the effects of different IEQ factors. Adults on the autism spectrum (n=83), neurotypical control adults (n=134), and adults with other conditions affecting sensory processing or who were closely related to someone on the autism spectrum (n=59) participated in an anonymous online survey. Participants were asked about their home and workplace, experiences of the general built environment, and general sensory sensitivity.  Autistic participants, who reported significantly higher sensory processing scores than Control participants, consistently reported higher levels of discomfort in both their home and workplace environments, feeling more overwhelming, stressed, and distracted, and less safe than the Control group in both environments. Though shopping malls, supermarkets, other retail and medical buildings are all essential buildings that people need to frequent to meet material needs and stay healthy, they all caused greater discomfort and distress for Autistic participants, who also avoided them more often. The odds of an Autistic participant avoiding buildings was 8.8 times greater than the Control group. Higher discomfort and distress reported by Autistic participants in office buildings may affects the low employment rates in this population.  People and People Noise were the IEQ factors that, across multiple environments, were rated as highest as a cause of discomfort and avoidance and had the largest difference between Autistic and Control participants, followed by Glare and Electric Light. Meanwhile, Temperature was rated equally highly by both groups, having a large effect but no difference between groups, with a similar trend seen in Air Quality and Air Movement.  Autistic people already struggle with social isolation, early mortality, and low employment rates, which are likely compounded by greater sensory stress from the built environment. Further research into understanding the relationship between the effects of the indoor environment and the differences in sensory processing in people on the autism spectrum is essential to creating solutions for a more accessible built environment.</p>

scholarly journals The Impact of Certification Systems for Architectural Solutions in Green Office Buildings in the Perspective of Occupant Well-Being

Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 659
Author(s):  
Magdalena Grzegorzewska ◽  
Paweł Kirschke
Keyword(s):  
Human Factors ◽  
Indoor Environment ◽  
Green Building ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Office Buildings ◽  
Environment Quality ◽  
Environmental Beliefs ◽  
Certification System ◽  
Indoor Environment Quality ◽  
The Impact

The green building certification system has long-lasting benefits by improving building efficiency and sustainability. The ultimate goal of such classification is to promote the preservation of the global environment as well as the occupants’ well-being and their health. In this paper, we present examples of buildings that have been designed and built in Poland and have been certified with BREEAM, LEED and WELL. Our study investigates human factors in certification systems and examines the WELL Building Standard as a supplement to other green systems, which will probably be the most popular in the future. The green building movement should prioritize pro-human factors and the associated environmental beliefs to improve indoor environment quality for users’ needs. We present this matter on the example of the Polish office space market, providing statistics and analyzing the architecture of six certified office buildings from Warsaw, Poznań and Wrocław. They are a representative sample of buildings designed following the certification regime. It was demonstrated how this aids in improving work comfort, enhances the program of office spaces and the organization of service spaces within buildings, which increases the rank of this architecture and positively affects the urban environment.

scholarly journals Graphical visualization of behavioural patterns in relation to indoor environment quality and energy use

2019 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 04060
Author(s):  
Andrei Vladimir Lițiu ◽  
Verena Marie Barthelmes ◽  
Cristina Becchio ◽  
Valentina Fabi ◽  
Mariantonietta Tarantini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Indoor Environment ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Monitoring And Evaluation ◽  
Environment Quality ◽  
Evaluation Strategies ◽  
Behavioural Patterns ◽  
Graphical Visualization ◽  
Indoor Environment Quality ◽  
The Impact

In this paper, the authors provide a general overview on the methodological framework behind the monitoring and evaluation strategies of Mobistyle project that are used as reference for the demonstration cases. The strategies identify parameters that need to be evaluated during several phases regarding the impact (energy, IEQ, health, behavioural patterns) and the strategy (effectiveness of the process) of the project, and how these parameters can be numerically evaluated. In particular, the paper focuses on the graphical visualization method for behavioural patterns analysis in relation to indoor environment quality and energy use. The proposed approach is illustrated based on measured data from one Mobistyle Project case study i.e. a hotel for long term stay located in Turin, Italy.

scholarly journals Impact of IPPC Scenarios on indoor environment quality of historic buildings

2019 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 03054 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Weyr ◽  
Richard Kalný ◽  
Jiří Hirš
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Indoor Environment ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Weather Data ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
Environment Quality ◽  
Indoor Environment Quality ◽  
The Impact

Ensuring proper indoor environment quality in buildings with historic value or buildings located in historic centres of cities is not an easy task. These buildings are frequently listed in historic preservation lists; thus, the amount of possible refurbishment methods is significantly limited due to increased protection. This article deals with comprehensive analysis of internal microclimate of a multi-purpose building located in the historic centre of Prague during summer period. Possible refurbishment methods permitted by the National Heritage Institute are analysed and compared using building energy performance simulation tool BSim in order to achieve proper working conditions in offices in the building. Structural and technical modifications are proposed in order to optimize the amount of solar heat gains leading to reduction of overheating and increase of energy efficiency. Furthermore, two global warming projections from the Fourth Assessment Report of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are applied to the current weather data to examine the impact of the global climate change on the building. As expected, the cooling demand increases with the climate change scenarios presenting more difficult challenges to maintain the indoor environment quality within the limitations given by the legislation.

A Report on The Acoustic Conditions of IEQ Laboratory Using ISO 3382-3

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-26
Author(s):  
Jason Obadiah
Keyword(s):  
Indoor Environment ◽  
Environment Quality ◽  
Indoor Environment Quality ◽  
The Future ◽  
Open Plan ◽  
Acoustic Conditions

Recently, many facilities have completed new laboratories that may be used to assess various measures of Indoor Environment Quality (IEQ) in office spaces. Also recently, a new standard, ISO 3382-3, was released for assessing the effects of speech on IEQ in open plan offices. The aim of this report is to assess one room of the IEQ lab using the ISO 3382-3 standard. It is expected that the data gained will be of help to researchers using the facility in the future. Keywords: ISO 3382-3, Indoor Environment Quality, Acoustics

scholarly journals Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Indoor Dust Collected during the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown in Saudi Arabia: Status, Sources and Human Health Risks

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 2743
Author(s):  
Sultan Hassan Alamri ◽  
Nadeem Ali ◽  
Hussain Mohammed Salem Ali Albar ◽  
Muhammad Imtiaz Rashid ◽  
Nisreen Rajeh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Weight ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Aromatic Hydrocarbons ◽  
Indoor Environment ◽  
Indoor Dust ◽  
Environment Quality ◽  
Indoor Environment Quality ◽  
Polycyclic Aromatic

To control the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Saudi Arabia’s government imposed a strict lockdown during March–July 2020. As a result, the public was confined to indoors, and most of their daily activities were happening in their indoor places, which might have resulted in lower indoor environment quality. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were analyzed in household dust (n = 40) collected from different residential districts of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, during the lockdown period. PAHs’ levels were two folds higher than the previously reported PAHs in indoor dust from this region. We detected low molecular weight (LMW) with two to four aromatic ring PAHs in all the samples with a significant contribution from Phenanthrene (Phe), present at an average concentration of 1590 ng/g of dust. Although high molecular weight (HMW) (5–6 aromatic ring) PAHs were detected at lower concentrations than LMW PAHs, however, they contributed >90% in the carcinogenic index of PAHs. The estimated daily intake (EDI) of specific PAHs was above the reference dose (RfD) for young children in high-end exposure and the calculated Incremental Lifetime Cancer Risk (ILCR) was >1.00 × 10−4 for both Saudi adults and young children. The study highlighted that indoor pollution has increased significantly during lockdown due to the increased indoor activities and inversely affect human health. This study also warrants to conduct more studies involving different chemicals to understand the indoor environment quality during strict lockdown conditions.

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