The main objective of the Ph.D. study was to examine occupants’ perception of comfort in nonindustrialbuildings (homes and offices), in particular how building occupants understand comfortand which parameters, not necessarily related to indoor environments, influence the perception ofcomfort.

To meet the objective, the following actions were taken: (1) a literature survey exploring whichindoor environmental parameters (thermal, acoustic, visual environment and air quality)predominantly determine overall comfort and whether other factors unrelated to the indoorenvironment influence the perception of comfort; the literature survey summarized 42 peerreviewedand conference articles and 1 book covering the period from 1970 to 2009;(2) preparation, distribution and analysis of a questionnaire survey sent to 2499 addressesrepresenting the most common types of residential buildings in Denmark and filled out by 645persons (response rate of 26%); and (3) analysis of the post-occupancy satisfaction surveyconducted by the Center for the Built Environment (CBE) at the University of California Berkeleyin 351 mainly U.S. office buildings and filled out by 52,980 building occupants.

The paper examines how satisfaction with indoor environmental parameters and building features affects satisfaction and self-estimated job performance. The analyses used subjective responses from around 50,000 occupants collected mainly in US office buildings using a web-based survey administered by the Center for the Built Environment (CBE) over the period of ten years. Overall satisfaction with the workspace significantly improved self-estimated job performance; increased satisfaction with temperature was estimated to provide the greatest improvement in self-estimated job performance, followed by increase in satisfaction with noise and air quality. The improvement of building features such as amount of space, visual privacy and noise level offered the highest chance to improve satisfaction with workspace. The study implies that it should be carefully considered how investments to upgrade indoor environmental quality and building design are used, and that they should consider whether comfort or working morale are expected to be improved.

The paper examines which subjectively evaluated indoor environmental parameters and building features mostly affect occupants’ satisfaction in mainly US office buildings. The study analyzed data from a web-based survey administered to 52,980 occupants in 351 office buildings over ten years by the Center for the Built Environment. The survey uses 7-point ordered scale questions pertaining to satisfaction with indoor environmental parameters, workspace and building features. The average building occupant was satisfied with his/her workspace and building. Proportional odds ordinal logistic regression shows that satisfaction with all 15 parameters listed in the survey contributed significantly to overall workspace satisfaction. The most important parameters were satisfaction with amount of space (odds ratio OR 1.57, CI: 1.55-1.59), noise level (OR 1.27, CI: 1.25-1.29) and visual privacy (OR 1.26, CI: 1.24-1.28). Satisfaction with amount of space was ranked to be the most important influence for workspace satisfaction, regardless of age group (below 30, 31-50 or over 50 years old), gender, type of office (single or shared offices, or cubicles), distance of workspace from a window (within 4.6 m or further) or satisfaction level with workspace (satisfied or dissatisfied). Satisfaction with amount of space was not related to the gross amount of space available per person.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS

To maximize workspace satisfaction designer should invest in aspects which increase satisfaction with amount of space and storage, noise level and visual privacy. Office workers will be most satisfied with their workspace and building when located close to a window in a private office. This may affect job satisfaction, work performance and personal and company productivity.