Effects of Workspace Design and Environmental Control on Office Workers' Perceptions of Air Quality

Abstract

This paper examines the influence of work space enclosure, individual difference variables (sex, job type), and control over the thermal environment on employee perceptions and satisfaction with air quality. The study population consisted of 200 office workers on five different floors of a single building that used either under-floor mounted air distribution units or a standard HVAC system. The under-floor units permit individual control over volume and direction of airflow in the work space. Four aspects of control were examined: availability of control; perceptions of control; exercised control; and; importance of thermal comfort as a goal. Dependent measures of air quality included: perceptions of air freshness; temperature; seasonal variations in temperature and satisfaction with temperature. The combined effects of work station enclosure and employee control were examined by means of multiple regression equations in which sex and occupational status were controlled. The results indicate that when the effects of sex and job status are statistically controlled, personal control and enclosure are significant predictors of employee perceptions. In order of importance; exercised control, perceived control, the importance of air quality as a goal; physical enclosure, and; availability of control all significantly influence perceptions of thermal comfort and satisfaction.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Becker

(1985). Quality of work environment (QWE): Effects on office workers. Journal of Prevention in Human Services, 35–57.

Bell

P. A.

Greene

T. C.

(1982). Thermal stress: Physiological, comfort, performance, and social effects of hot and cold environments. In Evans

G. W.

(Ed.), Environmental stress. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Brill

Margulis

Konar

(1984). Using office design to increase productivity. Vols. 1 and 2. Grand Rapids, MI: Westinghouse Furniture Systems.

Berglund

L. G.

(1978). Mathematical models for predicting the thermal comfort response of building occupants. ASHRAE Transactions, 84 (1).

Carayon

O'Neill

M. J.

(working paper). The influence of objective and subjective measures of the computerized office environment on employee stress and health..

Cohen

(1984). Human aspects of office automation. New York, Elsevier.

Ferguson

Weisman

(1986). Alternative approaches to the assessment of employee satisfaction with the office environment. In Wineman

(Ed.), Behavioral issues in office design. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.

Frese

(1989). Theoretical models of control and health, In Sauter

S. L.

Hurrell

J. J.

Jr. Cooper

C. L.

(Eds.), Job control and worker health, New York, Wiley & Sons.

Glass

D. C.

Singer

J. E.

(1972) Urban stress: Experiments on noise and social stressors. New York. Academic Press.

10.

Hedge

Michael

Parmelee

(1990). Improving thermal comfort in offices: The impact of underfloor task ventilation. Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 34th Annual Meeting, 537–541.

11.

Karasek

R. A.

(1979). Job demands, job design latitude and mental strain: Implications for job redesign. Administrative Science Quarterly, 24, 285–308.

12.

Klitzman

Stellman

(1989). The impact of the physical environment on the psychological well-being of office workers. Social Science Medicine, 29 (6), 733–742.

13.

Paciuk

(1990). The role of personal control of the environment in thermal comfort and satisfaction at the workplace. Proceedings of the 21st Environmental Design Research Association meeting, 303–312.

14.

Turiel

(1985). Indoor air quality and human health. Stanford, CA.: Stanford University Press.