The value of user feedback to improve the indoor environment in office

Abstract

A healthy, stimulating and comfortable office building positively influences health and the productivity of employees. To determine the indoor environmental quality of a building, indoor environmental parameters in buildings are often measured. While measurements are important, they do not give full insight in the indoor environmental quality of a building and often do not provide complete insight in the causes of potential problems. Since the requirements for a good indoor environment depend on the type of activities that take place in the building and on the preferences of individuals, the feedback of the building occupants should be included in the assessment. Moreover, this contributes to the interpretation of indoor environmental data. We have started collecting data on user feedback, in which building characteristics and the approximate location of users is included, in a systematic way. This makes it possible to easily compare the results of different buildings. The results show among others that the motive to apply the survey appears to be, to a certain extent, a predictive factor in the satisfaction rates: buildings that aim for sustainability- or health certification score highest. The lowest satisfaction rates for indoor environmental parameters are observed for temperature and acoustics. For all parameters, respondents were more satisfied when they perceived control over it. Sharing a workplace with an increasing number of people decreases satisfaction with acoustics and people report a negative impact on concentration. This observation calls for re-evaluation of modern office layouts. In case studies, the results of the questionnaire can be combined with the characteristics of the building to obtain insight in possible risk factors and provide solutions to indoor environmental challenges. Overall, all data collected will be used to define a reference value. By expanding the database, more analyses can be performed to better understand the relation between building characteristics, indoor environment and user satisfaction.