Conventional models of building occupants' environmental preferences such as thermal comfort are used to give guidelines for the average environmental conditions that will satisfy large groups of people. The research described in this paper investigates how the preferences of an individual occupant can be modeled to predict their preferred thermal and environmental conditions. A novel, Internet based questionnaire was developed to gather thermal sensation votes.
In order to ensure that buildings and HVAC plans are truly for people and actually satisfy the occupants, it is necessary to obtain feedback from the occupants. This can be done by a novel questionnaire that produces a readily understandable fingerprint a
Validated instruments are not available to assess the residential characteristics. The aim of this study was to assess the reliability and validity of an interviewer-administered home visit report. The validity of 48 items in the Home Visit Report was examined against: observations made by a researcher, measurements of relative humidity, cat allergen, and ergosterol, a biomarker of fungal exposure and a biochemical test. Test-retest reliability of 10 fixed residential characteristics was assessed comparing the responses obtained in the main study with the pilot study.
This paper reports on the findings of a research exercise that has aimed to crystallise the current state of the Indoor Air Quality debate across a broad spectrum of the industry. The findings are discussed and conclusions drawn on whether there is evidence that the industry's efforts towards delivering good Indoor Air Quality is well received by building owners and operators in appreciable numbers
During the past three years, BRE has conducted winter and summer occupant surveys on satisfaction with environmental conditions in 23 buildings. These were a mixture of naturally ventilated and air conditioned buildings. The results presented in this paper are based on a secondary analysis of 5136 completed questionnaires. The aim of the analysis was to determine the effect of ventilation type and season on occupant satisfaction with key environmental parameters: thermal sensation, thermal comfort, humidity, air movement, stuffiness, air quality, lighting and noise.
Custom software to automatically administer questionnaires on computer screens was installed on computers in four open-plan offices. Five questions related to thermal comfort were presented twice per day for three months. Results indicate that this new method of subjective data collection was successful and efficient: the participants had few complaints about the method of questionnaire delivery, and a substantial literature review demonstrates that our results are comparable with results from other field studies of thermal comfort conducted using different methods.
This study, in progress in Trondheim, Norway, deals with the connection between energy economy and indoor air quality in detached houses. It includes 41 new houses, all equipped with balanced ventilation and heat-pump for energy savings. The study includes both questionnaires and various measurements, and will be finished in 1994. Comparing the new and old housing, 90 % of the occupants are more satisfied with the indoor air quality in their new home, than their old home.
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