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Evaluation of Occupant Comfort and Health in Indoor Home-Based Work and Study Environment

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HCI International 2020 – Late Breaking Papers: Digital Human Modeling and Ergonomics, Mobility and Intelligent Environments (HCII 2020)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 12429))

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Abstract

Most companies in the United States (U.S.) have asked their employees to work from home (WFH) since the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, work environment changed from office to home. However, home environment is designed for living purpose instead of working purpose. People may experience different levels of comfort visually, thermally, etc. when WFH. Because occupants can be affected differently by indoor environmental quality factors in office (e.g., difficult temperature adjustment based on personal preference) and at home (e.g., easy temperature adjustment), which could increase the experience of sick building syndrome (SBS). Evaluation of occupant comfort and health in office environment was widely explored before. Less research was conducted to explore occupant comfort and health when WFH. Therefore, this study compiled a comprehensive list of key factors and indicators of occupant comfort and health from previous literature. Then, a survey was designed and distributed in the U.S. to evaluate occupants’ satisfaction of home-based work or study environment and experience of SBS. The demographic analysis shows that diverse types of occupants were covered. Then, occupants’ satisfaction and experience of SBS when WFH were compared with regular work or study. The findings show that occupants’ satisfaction slightly increased while experience of SBS slightly decreased when WFH. More importantly, ocular symptoms were the top concern in regular work or study and WFH. This study shows the differences of satisfaction and experience of SBS between regular work or study and WFH, which also indicates a direction for future technologies to improve home environment, well-being, and health.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Construction Animation, Robotics, and Ergonomics (CARE) Lab, School of Construction Management Technology (SCMT), Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA

    Xingzhou Guo

  2. CARE Lab, SCMT, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA

    Yunfeng Chen

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  1. Xingzhou Guo
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  2. Yunfeng Chen
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Correspondence to Yunfeng Chen .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Crete and Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH), Heraklion, Crete, Greece

    Constantine Stephanidis

  2. Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA

    Vincent G. Duffy

  3. Smart Future Initiative, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Norbert Streitz

  4. Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

    Shin'ichi Konomi

  5. Ilmenau University of Technology, Ilmenau, Germany

    Heidi Krömker

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Guo, X., Chen, Y. (2020). Evaluation of Occupant Comfort and Health in Indoor Home-Based Work and Study Environment. In: Stephanidis, C., Duffy, V.G., Streitz, N., Konomi, S., Krömker, H. (eds) HCI International 2020 – Late Breaking Papers: Digital Human Modeling and Ergonomics, Mobility and Intelligent Environments. HCII 2020. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12429. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59987-4_34

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59987-4_34

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