Satisfaction with indoor environmental quality in BREEAM and non-BREEAM certified office buildings

ABSTRACT

This paper presents preliminary analysis of occupant satisfaction with indoor environmental quality in BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) and non-BREEAM certified offices in the UK. Results from cross-sectional questionnaires (N = 121) showed that BREEAM certification per se did not seem to substantively influence building and workspace satisfaction. Conversely, occupants of BREEAM offices tended to be less satisfied with air quality and visual privacy than users of non-BREEAM buildings. Lower satisfaction was also detected in BREEAM offices for occupants having spent over 24 months in their building, and for users working in open-plan spaces. To interpret these findings, a methodology for data analysis was adopted whereas responses to point-in-time surveys (N = 82) were paired with environmental measurements. Broadening the perspective for appraising occupants’ perceptions, these combined techniques led to conclude that certification schemes should balance criteria addressing energy performance with design solutions considerate of issues of privacy, proxemics and perceived control over the qualities of the indoor environment.

KEYWORDS:

• Indoor environmental quality
• occupant satisfaction
• BREEAM
• cross-sectional questionnaire
• non-environmental factors
• point-in-time survey
• environmental measurements
• control

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Sergio Altomonte http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2518-0234

Stefano Schiavon http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1285-5682

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the International Collaboration Fund awarded by The University of Nottingham to the first author, and by the Developing Solutions Scholarship (number 15137) awarded by The University of Nottingham to the second author for the completion of her MSc in Sustainable Building Technology.