الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract Abstract Occupant satisfaction with indoor environmental quality (IEQ) in office buildings has been completely related to self-estimated job performance and, probably, to overall company productivity. Poor indoor environmental circumstances can negatively affect occupants’ physical health through poor air quality, extreme temperatures, excess humidity, or insufficient ventilation and psychological health through inadequate lighting, acoustics, and ergonomic design. Sustainable or green building rating systems is attempting to address IEQ and occupant health concerns by providing healthier building environments. Although many qualitative studies claimed that improved IEQ also improves health and productivity and has provided substantial motivation to build green, quantitative studies are needed to prove these relationships . . ~ This thesis presents a summary of the results from a post-occupancy evaluation study on IEQ and occupant health, wellbeing in two office buildings in greater Cairo: conventional building and green building certified using the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Rating System. Evaluation ofIEQ is based on ’Building Use Studies’ (BUS) occupant questionnaire which conducted in both buildings. This research highlighted that occupants’ productivity in office buildings can be enhanced through good building design, and provision of a high quality, healthy, and functional interior environment, that takes consideration of basic occupant needs. Three objectives were set to test the adequacy of the BUS questionnaire. Firstly, to ascertain whether the occupants were comfortable and satisfied with the performance of each building, secondly, the questionnaire was used to assess the occupants’ perception of the IEQ factors in each building; and thirdly, to assess and compare the differences in perceived productivity as a result of the IEQ in each building. This study observed that the occupants of both buildings were satisfied with the building’s performance. Although the claim that LEED certified office buildings can offer more comfortable environments to their occupants than other conventional buildings based on the sample studied in this research. The LEED certified office buildings in this research offered workspaces with better thermal comfort, indoor air quality, lighting quality and acoustics quality. The evidence provided in this research was based on subjective qualitative feedback from buildings’ occupants about them. 11 |