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

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 © 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG

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