Occupant satisfaction

The occupants’ satisfaction with the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) of a building is a key factor to determine if the indoor climate can be considered as acceptable. Current standards, evaluating the IEQ, do not always guarantee sufficiently high occupant satisfaction levels, since these standards do not handle all satisfaction influencing parameters, such as, personal preferences or perceived control. Therefore, the assessment of occupant satisfaction with the IEQ remains an important issue.

Green buildings incorporate several features to improve energy efficiency, indoor environmental conditions, and occupant satisfaction. However, studies have indicated that green-certified buildings do not always provide occupants with an acceptable level of satisfaction. The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) requires that at least 80% of occupants are satisfied with the indoor thermal conditions.

Current HVAC control systems assume occupant-related information, i.e., preferences, occupancy and behaviour. Furthermore, occupants often have limited control over the indoor environment in non-residential buildings. As a result, occupants are often dissatisfied with the indoor environmental quality (IEQ). This study works towards defining a novel occupant-centric control (OCC) framework which integrates occupants’ feedback regarding their satisfaction with the IEQ. This study collected both occupant satisfaction assessments via surveys and IEQ measurement data in various case studies.

This paper presents results of an evaluation of workplace occupant satisfaction in 16 state ofthe art office buildings of a variety of sizes and energy concepts in Germany. Some of thebuildings feature very low total energy consumption as well as passive cooling strategies. In thequestionnaire, all relevant aspects concerning occupant satisfaction of indoor environments areaddressed.