Indoor environmental quality and occupant satisfaction in green-certified buildings

Abstract

Green-building certification systems aim at improving the design and operation of buildings. However, few detailed studies have investigated whether a green rating leads to higher occupant satisfaction with indoor environmental quality (IEQ). This research builds on previous work to address this. Based on the analysis of a subset of the Center for the Built Environment Occupant Indoor Environmental Quality survey database featuring 11,243 responses from 93 Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-rated office buildings, this study explores the relationships between the points earned in the IEQ category and the satisfaction expressed by occupants with the qualities of their indoor environment. It was found that the achievement of a specific IEQ credit did not substantively increase satisfaction with the corresponding IEQ factor, while the rating level, and the product and version under which certification had been awarded, did not affect workplace satisfaction. There could be several reasons for this, some of which are outside the control of designers and beyond the scope of rating systems based primarily on design intent. The challenges and priorities facing building professionals, researchers and green building certification systems are discussed for the creation of more comfortable, higher performing and healthier green-rated buildings.

IEQ Field Investigation in High-Performance, Urban Elementary Schools

“…Some previous studies [65,66] have shown that occupants in LEED certified buildings tend to be more satisfied with thermal comfort and IAQ than occupants in non-LEED certified buildings, and less satisfied with lighting and acoustic quality. Another study [67] found no correlation between either total LEED points or specific IEQ credits earned and occupant satisfaction. In this study, while LEED score alone was not clearly correlated with measured or perceived IEQ performance, there are insight to be found in the specific points each school earned.…”

Development and validation of a survey for well-being and interaction assessment by occupants in office buildings with adaptive facades

“…One of the main objectives of this Action is assess and evaluate different adaptive facades technologies from an occupantcentered approach and create good-quality survey tools to benchmark and compare the indoor environment in office buildings with adaptive facades Historically, most well-being and satisfaction surveys have been developed with a focus on the indoor environment [2]. Because thermal comfort, visual comfort, acoustic comfort and air quality are the strongest discriminators of well-being and satisfaction of occupants in buildings [7,8]. For example, the UK BUS occupant survey allows benchmarking office buildings against an existing database of case studies [11].…”

Real Estate Developer's Product Positioning: Ahp-Utility-Based Model

“…Human activity is increasing global pollution and causing many environmental problems. Green building is a trend that countries have already prioritized; additionally, countries are constantly and actively improving environmental management implementation (Altomonte, Schiavon, Kent, & Brager, 2019;Paul & Taylor, 2008;Retzlaff, 2008;Zhang, Platten, & Shen, 2011). Practitioners of green building design primarily advocate low-carbon construction and maintenance to conserve energy and reduce environmental pollution (GhaffarianHoseini et al, 2013;Pohekar & Ramachandran, 2004).…”