The results of three independent studies involving 90 subjects, and using similar procedures and blind exposures have shown that increasing air quality (by decreasing the pollution load or by increasing the ventilation rate, with otherwise constant indoor climate conditions) can improve the performance of simulated office work (text typing, addition and proof-reading). An analysis of the combined data from these studies is presented to establish the relationship between air quality and performance in offices.
The objective of this study was to test a new office space where the environmental conditions could be well controlled- a "field laboratory", located at Mid Sweden University in 6stersund. To test the laboratory, the same experiment that had been carried out earlier at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) was repeated. A further objective was to test whether the earlier results from DTU showing a negative impact of increased indoor air pollution on perceived air quality, Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) symptoms and performance could be repeated.
The paper discusses the suitability of the sunken courtyard concept in the desert climate using Kuwait as a case study. It investigates three issues related to the concept: its ability to modify the harsh climate and to reduce the energy consumption, its constrnction costs compared to aboveground building, and the occupants' attitude towards living underground. The results are shown to be all positive and will be significant to the policy-makers, designers, and homeowners.
For more than 100 years, temperature control has been the principal concern of our industry. That focus and our collective efforts have achieved immense improvements in the human condition – improvements so fundamental that they are usually overlooked and unappreciated, even by ourselves. We seldom reflect on what the world was like before the refrigeration of food and medicine, or before the availability of low-cost, reliable heat in the winter and cooling in the summer. However, in spite of- or because of- those achievements, the expectations of the public have moved higher.
A field study of the thermal comfort of workers in natural ventilated office buildings in Oxford and Aberdeen, UK, was carried out which included information about use of building controls. The data were analysed to explore that what effect the outdoor temperature has on the indoor temperature and how this is affected by occupants' use of environmental controls during the peak summer (June-August). The proportion of subjects using a control was related to indoor and outdoor temperatures to demonstrate the size of the effect.
Perceived air quality, Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) symptoms and productivity were studied in an existing office in which the air pollution level could be modified by introducing or removing a pollution source. This reversible intervention allowed the space to be classified as either non-low-polluting or low-polluting, as specified in the new European design criteria ·for the indoor environment CEN CR 1752 (1998). The pollution source was a 20-year-old used carpet which was introduced on a rack behind a screen so that it was invisible to the occupants.
The book discusses issues raised by the "experience effect", such as price-cost cycles, competition for learning opportunities in the market, risk of "technology lockout" and the effects of research, development and deployment policies on technology learning. Case studies illustrate how experience curves can be used to set policy targets and to design policy measures that will encourage both investment in and use of environment-friendly energy technologies. Low-cost paths to stabilising CO2 emissions are explored.
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