A novel methodology to realistically monitor office occupant reactions and environmental conditions using a living lab

Jamrozik, Anja; Ramos, Christian; Zhao, Jie; Bernau, Joleen; Clements, Nicholas; Wolf, Tracee Vetting; Bauer, Brent A.

doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2017.12.024

Cited by 47 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…We do not know how long this positive effect would last in practice. Some field studies have found increased satisfaction with the workplace when occupants have a window in their space [97], have access to windows [98,99], or are satisfied with their external view [100]. However, these findings are often insufficient to generalize about any long-term effects of windows as they did not: 1) control other environmental qualities or contextual factors (e.g., time of day); or 2) have a sample size that can represent the general population [101].…”

Section: Effects Of the Outdoor View From The Window On Occupant Emotmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of a view from a window on thermal comfort, emotion, and cognitive performance

Schiavon

Zhang

et al. 2020

Building and Environment

186

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Visual connection to nature has been demonstrated to have a positive impact on attention restoration, stress reduction, and overall health and well-being. Inside buildings, windows are the primary means of providing a connection to the outdoors, and nature views even through a window may have similar effects on the occupants. Given that humans recognize environments through multi-sensory integration, a window view may also affect occupants' thermal perception. We assessed the influence of having a window with a view on thermal and emotional responses as well as on cognitive performance. We conducted a randomized crossover laboratory experiment with 86 participants, in spaces with and without windows. The chamber kept the air and window surface temperature at 28 °C, a slightly warm condition. The outcome measures consisted of subjective evaluations (e.g., thermal perception, emotion), skin temperature measurements and cognitive performance tests. In the space with versus without windows, the thermal sensation was significantly cooler (0.3 thermal sensation vote; equivalent to 0.74 °C lower), and 12 % more participants were thermally comfortable. Positive emotions (e.g., happy, satisfied) were higher and negative emotions (e.g., sad, drowsy) were lower for the participants in the window versus the windowless condition. Working memory and the ability to concentrate were higher for participants in the space with versus without windows, but there were no significant differences in short-term memory, planning, and creativity performance. Considering the multiple effects of window access, providing a window with a view in a workplace is important for the comfort, emotion, and working memory and concentration of occupants.factors that may differ when there are simultaneous inputs from other sensory systems (e.g., auditory, visual, tactile). Therefore, we must consider the possible interactions between visual and thermal perceptions. Ignoring the possible connections between these sensory systems could lead to ineffective design that could result in occupant discomfort or decreased performance, or even building performance issues such as energy waste.While it is not known conclusively whether occupants' thermal responses differ when there is visual connection to the outdoors, there is some prior research that suggests this could be important. Some evidence shows that a visual connection to the outdoors can have a positive impact on the occupants' overall perceptions of the built environment, leading to flexibility in their expectations [28]. For instance, if we take this general concept and hypothesize that having a view to the outdoors could help occupants increase their satisfaction with a wider indoor temperature range, then we could relax the temperature setpoints, which would then allow a reduction in building energy consumption [29][30][31][32]. A reasonable amount of variability in the acceptable range may even be preferable for occupants [3,14]. For designers, it would be important to define the relevant parameter...

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Section: Effects Of the Outdoor View From The Window On Occupant Emotmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of a view from a window on thermal comfort, emotion, and cognitive performance

Schiavon

Zhang

et al. 2020

Building and Environment

186

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The aim of this study was to examine the association between exposure to environmental conditions and reported satisfaction with environmental quality in a simulated open-office workspace created in a living lab. This study is also an extension of a proof-of-concept study previously reported by Jamrozik (2018) that found that changes in environmental office conditions affected occupants' experiences inside and outside of the space. In contrast to Jamrozik et al's scale of analysis at the level of weeklong "scenes" -combinations of acoustic, lighting, and thermal conditions, this study examined the daily-level relationship between individual exposure to these combinations of environmental conditions and reported satisfaction with office environmental quality.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 59%

Environmental Conditions and Occupant Satisfaction in the Workplace: A Controlled Study in a Living Lab

Nguyễn¹,

Huynh²,

Jamrozik³

et al. 2018

Healthy, Intelligent and Resilient Buildings and Urban Environments

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Living labs offer a powerful, new way to measure human-building interactions. In addition to having the advantages of a traditional controlled laboratory setting, living labs facilitate the study of how combinations of environmental factors directly affect human health and satisfaction in a real-world setting. The aim of this experimental study was to characterize the relationship between individual-level exposure to environmental conditions and reported satisfaction with environmental quality in a simulated open-office workspace created in a living lab. Eight office workers were exposed to six different week-long combinations of light (natural and electric), sound, and thermal conditions over 18 weeks in a living lab. We assigned exposure to temperature, relative humidity, and light, specifically illuminance, to each participant using measurements from the environmental sensor in closest proximity to the participant. Sound measurements were collected by only one device, so all participants were assigned the same sound exposure. Participants also completed daily questionnaires in which they rated their level of satisfaction with the overall quality of the workplace and with specific environmental parameters in the simulated workspace. Using ordinal response mixed effects models, we found that temperature, noise, and light-individually and in combination-were significant predictors of self-reported occupant satisfaction. Our results contribute to a better understanding of the relative importance of environmental parameters to employee satisfaction in a real-world context, which may be useful for guiding and optimizing building design and management decisions to best serve its occupants.

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“…In the last decade, living labs have been used to evaluate technology adoption [52], test healthcare delivery methods [53], and evaluate energy consumption behaviors [54,55]. Applied as a scientific research methodology, living labs are useful for observing long-term human-building interactions in ecologically valid settings [56]. While living labs have not been broadly adopted in the building sciences, recent field and chamber investigations successfully applied aspects of the approach, such as extensive environmental sensor networks, novel behavioral measurements, and/or wearable devices, to measure human outcomes in realistic or semirealistic settings.…”

Section: Experimental Design In Building Sciencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…While prior studies extensively characterized the physical interactions between factors of IEQ, there are still gaps in understanding how such factors interact to influence human perceptions of the indoor environment [41]. For example, reductions in perceived air quality were detected when participants experienced poor thermal and daylighting conditions in a living lab [56]. Thermal comfort is a classic example where combinations of environmental (air/radiant temperature, air velocity, humidity) and human characteristics (metabolic rate, clothing) combine to affect people's perception of the thermal environment [68].…”

Section: Indoor Environmental Qualitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Here, we present an assessment of the experimental design, interior design, IEQ, and building system operation and control from three office-based living lab studies during which air temperature, natural and electric lighting, and sound masking were varied between experimental conditions, the human outcomes of which are reported elsewhere [56,69,70]. We aim to address the questions: Can a living lab facility accurately simulate a typical office environment and IEQ conditions for the purpose of conducting human subject research?…”

Section: Indoor Environmental Qualitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Spatial and Temporal Variability of the Indoor Environmental Quality during Three Simulated Office Studies at a Living Lab

et al. 2019

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The living lab approach to building science research provides the ability to accurately monitor occupants and their environment and use the resulting data to evaluate the impact that various components of the built environment have on human comfort, health, and well-being. A hypothesized benefit of the living lab approach is the ability to simulate the real indoor environment in an experimentally controlled setting over relatively long periods of time, overcoming a significant hurdle encountered in many chamber-type experimental designs that rarely reflect typical indoor environments. Here, we present indoor environmental quality measurements from a network of sensors as well as building system design and operational data demonstrating the ability of a living lab to realistically simulate a wide range of environmental conditions in an office setting by varying air temperature, lighting, façade control, and sound masking in a series of three human subject experiments. The temporal variability of thermal and lighting conditions was assessed on an hourly basis and demonstrated the significant impact of façade design and control on desk-level measurements of both factors. Additional factors, such as desk layout and building system design (e.g., luminaires, speaker system), also contributed significantly to spatial variability in air temperature, lighting, and sound masking exposures, and this variability was reduced in latter experiments by optimizing desk layout and building system design. While ecologically valid experimental conditions are possible with a living lab, a compromise between realism and consistency in participant experience must often be found by, for example, using an atypical desk layout to reduce spatial variability in natural light exposure. Based on the experiences from these three studies, experimental design and environmental monitoring considerations for future office-based living lab experiments are explored.

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A novel methodology to realistically monitor office occupant reactions and environmental conditions using a living lab

Cited by 47 publications

References 51 publications

The impact of a view from a window on thermal comfort, emotion, and cognitive performance

The impact of a view from a window on thermal comfort, emotion, and cognitive performance

Environmental Conditions and Occupant Satisfaction in the Workplace: A Controlled Study in a Living Lab

The Spatial and Temporal Variability of the Indoor Environmental Quality during Three Simulated Office Studies at a Living Lab

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