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This paper reports the results from a dataset comprising 9794 post-occupancy evaluation (POE) surveys from 77 Australian open-plan offices. This paper specifically focuses on a sub-set of 20 offices (n = 2133), identified from ranking 10 offices each, with the least (n = 1063) and highest (n = 1070) satisfaction scores, respectively. The satisfaction scores were evaluated on the basis of seven factors (i.e., building/office aesthetics and quality, thermal comfort and indoor air quality, noise distraction and privacy, personal control, connection to outdoor environment, maintenance and visual comfort, and individual space). Using the POE survey data from 20 offices, regression analyses and two-way ANOVA tests were carried out to understand the differences in occupants’ satisfaction and perceived productivity arising from open-plan offices. According to the statistically significant regression analyses results, it was identified that building/office aesthetics and quality (β = 0.55, p < 0.001) and noise distraction and privacy (β = 0.33, p < 0.001) were the two strongest predictors contributing perceived productivity in low-performance offices. Two-way ANOVA test results for the 10 high-performance offices indicate that the perceived productivity was strongly associated with the office’s physical configuration, the employees’ working experience, and the working hours at that office.
Özgür Göçer; Christhina Candido; Leena Thomas; Kenan Göçer. Differences in Occupants’ Satisfaction and Perceived Productivity in High- and Low-Performance Offices. Buildings 2019, 9, 199 .
AMA StyleÖzgür Göçer, Christhina Candido, Leena Thomas, Kenan Göçer. Differences in Occupants’ Satisfaction and Perceived Productivity in High- and Low-Performance Offices. Buildings. 2019; 9 (9):199.
Chicago/Turabian StyleÖzgür Göçer; Christhina Candido; Leena Thomas; Kenan Göçer. 2019. "Differences in Occupants’ Satisfaction and Perceived Productivity in High- and Low-Performance Offices." Buildings 9, no. 9: 199.
Christhina Candido; Leena Thomas; Shamila Haddad; Fan Zhang; Martin Mackey; Wei Ye. Designing activity-based workspaces: satisfaction, productivity and physical activity. Building Research & Information 2018, 47, 275 -289.
AMA StyleChristhina Candido, Leena Thomas, Shamila Haddad, Fan Zhang, Martin Mackey, Wei Ye. Designing activity-based workspaces: satisfaction, productivity and physical activity. Building Research & Information. 2018; 47 (3):275-289.
Chicago/Turabian StyleChristhina Candido; Leena Thomas; Shamila Haddad; Fan Zhang; Martin Mackey; Wei Ye. 2018. "Designing activity-based workspaces: satisfaction, productivity and physical activity." Building Research & Information 47, no. 3: 275-289.
Jason Prior; Irena Connon; Erica McIntyre; Jon Adams; Anthony Capon; Jennifer L. Kent; Chris Rissel; Leena Thomas; Susan Thompson; Harriet Westcott. Built environment interventions for human and planetary health: integrating health in climate change adaptation and mitigation. Public Health Research & Practice 2018, 28, 1 .
AMA StyleJason Prior, Irena Connon, Erica McIntyre, Jon Adams, Anthony Capon, Jennifer L. Kent, Chris Rissel, Leena Thomas, Susan Thompson, Harriet Westcott. Built environment interventions for human and planetary health: integrating health in climate change adaptation and mitigation. Public Health Research & Practice. 2018; 28 (4):1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJason Prior; Irena Connon; Erica McIntyre; Jon Adams; Anthony Capon; Jennifer L. Kent; Chris Rissel; Leena Thomas; Susan Thompson; Harriet Westcott. 2018. "Built environment interventions for human and planetary health: integrating health in climate change adaptation and mitigation." Public Health Research & Practice 28, no. 4: 1.
Leena E. Thomas. Combating overheating: mixed-mode conditioning for workplace comfort. Building Research & Information 2016, 45, 176 -194.
AMA StyleLeena E. Thomas. Combating overheating: mixed-mode conditioning for workplace comfort. Building Research & Information. 2016; 45 (1-2):176-194.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLeena E. Thomas. 2016. "Combating overheating: mixed-mode conditioning for workplace comfort." Building Research & Information 45, no. 1-2: 176-194.
Sanyogita Manu; Yash Shukla; Rajan Rawal; Leena E. Thomas; Richard De Dear. Corrigendum to “Field studies of thermal comfort across multiple climate zones for the subcontinent: India model for adaptive comfort (IMAC)” [Building and Environment 98 (2016) 55–70]. Building and Environment 2016, 106, 422 -426.
AMA StyleSanyogita Manu, Yash Shukla, Rajan Rawal, Leena E. Thomas, Richard De Dear. Corrigendum to “Field studies of thermal comfort across multiple climate zones for the subcontinent: India model for adaptive comfort (IMAC)” [Building and Environment 98 (2016) 55–70]. Building and Environment. 2016; 106 ():422-426.
Chicago/Turabian StyleSanyogita Manu; Yash Shukla; Rajan Rawal; Leena E. Thomas; Richard De Dear. 2016. "Corrigendum to “Field studies of thermal comfort across multiple climate zones for the subcontinent: India model for adaptive comfort (IMAC)” [Building and Environment 98 (2016) 55–70]." Building and Environment 106, no. : 422-426.
Jungsoo Kim; Christhina Candido; Leena Thomas; Richard de Dear. Desk ownership in the workplace: The effect of non-territorial working on employee workplace satisfaction, perceived productivity and health. Building and Environment 2016, 103, 203 -214.
AMA StyleJungsoo Kim, Christhina Candido, Leena Thomas, Richard de Dear. Desk ownership in the workplace: The effect of non-territorial working on employee workplace satisfaction, perceived productivity and health. Building and Environment. 2016; 103 ():203-214.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJungsoo Kim; Christhina Candido; Leena Thomas; Richard de Dear. 2016. "Desk ownership in the workplace: The effect of non-territorial working on employee workplace satisfaction, perceived productivity and health." Building and Environment 103, no. : 203-214.
India is witnessing unprecedented growth trends in building construction, particularly office spaces. Indian offices are designed to operate at 22.5 ± 1 °C all year round to meet the stringent “Class A” specifications outlined by international standards in the absence of an India-specific comfort standard. This paper proposes an India Model for Adaptive Comfort - IMAC - based on the field surveys administered in 16 buildings in three seasons and five cities, representative of five Indian climate zones. A total of 6330 responses were gathered from naturally ventilated, mixed mode and air-conditioned office buildings using instantaneous thermal comfort surveys. Occupants in naturally ventilated Indian offices were found to be more adaptive than the prevailing ASHRAE and EN models would suggest. According to the IMAC model, neutral temperature in naturally ventilated buildings varies from 19.6-28.5 °C for 30-day outdoor running mean air temperatures ranging from 12.5-31 °C. This is the first instance where a study proposes a single adaptive model for mixed mode buildings asserting its validity for both naturally ventilated and air-conditioned modes of operation in the building, with neutral temperature varying from 21.5-28.7 °C for 13-38.5 °C range of outdoor temperatures. For air-conditioned buildings, Fanger’s static PMV model was found to consistently over-predict the sensation on the warmer side of the 7-point sensation scale.
Sanyogita Manu; Yash Shukla; Rajan Rawal; Leena Thomas; Richard de Dear. Field studies of thermal comfort across multiple climate zones for the subcontinent: India Model for Adaptive Comfort (IMAC). Building and Environment 2016, 98, 55 -70.
AMA StyleSanyogita Manu, Yash Shukla, Rajan Rawal, Leena Thomas, Richard de Dear. Field studies of thermal comfort across multiple climate zones for the subcontinent: India Model for Adaptive Comfort (IMAC). Building and Environment. 2016; 98 ():55-70.
Chicago/Turabian StyleSanyogita Manu; Yash Shukla; Rajan Rawal; Leena Thomas; Richard de Dear. 2016. "Field studies of thermal comfort across multiple climate zones for the subcontinent: India Model for Adaptive Comfort (IMAC)." Building and Environment 98, no. : 55-70.
We investigate greenhouse emissions of office workers in Sydney, drawing on census data, national building energy benchmarks as well as journey-to-work and energy data from two study buildings. Comparing work locations in the central business district (CBD) and Macquarie Park Corridor with metro-wide averages, we find that building emissions dominate over commuting emissions across the city, but commuting is increasingly important as building energy efficiency increases. Furthermore, our results indicate that efforts to improve a building's energy efficiency at Macquarie Park are largely negated by high reliance on car travel despite the introduction of the Epping–Chatswood train line. We conclude that improving building energy efficiency, office space utilisation and network connectivity (currently evident only in the CBD) delivers the best opportunity to reducing the carbon cost of workplaces.
Leena E. Thomas; Peter Rickwood; Jasna Dilevska. The Carbon Cost of Work—Impacts of Office Building and Commuting Energy in Sydney Workplaces. Urban Policy and Research 2015, 33, 340 -361.
AMA StyleLeena E. Thomas, Peter Rickwood, Jasna Dilevska. The Carbon Cost of Work—Impacts of Office Building and Commuting Energy in Sydney Workplaces. Urban Policy and Research. 2015; 33 (3):340-361.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLeena E. Thomas; Peter Rickwood; Jasna Dilevska. 2015. "The Carbon Cost of Work—Impacts of Office Building and Commuting Energy in Sydney Workplaces." Urban Policy and Research 33, no. 3: 340-361.
As with most developed economies, existing buildings comprise 98 per cent of Australia’s building stock and account for the bulk of greenhouse gas emissions from this sector. It has been argued elsewhere (Thomas, 2010) that the questions surrounding the refurbishment of existing buildings are critical in determining ‘how to address the issue of the ageing building stock and seize the opportunities presented to future-proof these buildings in the context of climate change’.
Leena Thomas. Refurbishment for Carbon Reduction and Occupant Comfort:Insights from the Post-Occupancy Evaluation of Three Office Buildings. Sustainable Retrofitting of Commercial Buildings 2015, 425 -452.
AMA StyleLeena Thomas. Refurbishment for Carbon Reduction and Occupant Comfort:Insights from the Post-Occupancy Evaluation of Three Office Buildings. Sustainable Retrofitting of Commercial Buildings. 2015; ():425-452.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLeena Thomas. 2015. "Refurbishment for Carbon Reduction and Occupant Comfort:Insights from the Post-Occupancy Evaluation of Three Office Buildings." Sustainable Retrofitting of Commercial Buildings , no. : 425-452.
Research findings point to three methodological shortcomings of current post-occupancy evaluation (POE) tools: (1) contextualizing results, (2) adding instrumental data side by side to survey results and (3) producing meaningful feedback to its key stakeholders. This paper introduces the holistic BOSSA (Building Occupants Survey System Australia) and tools developed under this project's scope in close collaboration with industry. It aims to present and discuss the statistical analysis used in the BOSSA tool, distilling the survey results down to nine indoor environmental quality (IEQ) dimensions and their association with four overall indices. Principal component analysis (PCA) extracted nine IEQ dimensions that were uncorrelated with each other: spatial comfort, indoor air quality, personal control, noise distraction and privacy, connection to the outdoor environment, building image and maintenance, individual space, thermal comfort, and visual comfort. Four separate multiple regression analyses were conducted, one for each global evaluation item as an independent variable: work area comfort, building satisfaction, productivity and health. This statistical analysis provided the rational basis of BOSSA's scoring system, designed to simplify how occupant survey results are communicated to key stakeholders from the property industry and researchers.
Christhina Candido; Jungsoo Kim; Richard De Dear; Leena Thomas. BOSSA: a multidimensional post-occupancy evaluation tool. Building Research & Information 2015, 44, 214 -228.
AMA StyleChristhina Candido, Jungsoo Kim, Richard De Dear, Leena Thomas. BOSSA: a multidimensional post-occupancy evaluation tool. Building Research & Information. 2015; 44 (2):214-228.
Chicago/Turabian StyleChristhina Candido; Jungsoo Kim; Richard De Dear; Leena Thomas. 2015. "BOSSA: a multidimensional post-occupancy evaluation tool." Building Research & Information 44, no. 2: 214-228.
Existing buildings present the best opportunity for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in developed economies, given that only 2–3% of the building stock is newly built each year. Insights from a post-occupancy evaluation of a large-scale refurbishment project of a head office building in Sydney, Australia, are presented to inform future refurbishment strategies. The study evaluates occupant satisfaction and energy performance, and elicits influencing factors arising from the design process and interventions, ongoing building management, and operational performance. Occupants returned a high level of satisfaction across the range of environmental variables for overall comfort, temperature, lighting, and air quality as well as perceived productivity and health. These outcomes highlight the importance of improving indoor environmental quality for occupants particularly through increased fresh air, daylight, glare control, access to views, and noise management. The positive results reinforce the value of an integrated and user-responsive approach that was adopted for building design, development, and management. The reduction in operational energy (in this project, coupled with carbon reduction) as a consequence of refurbishment and positive user feedback demonstrates the potential to future-proof existing buildings in the context of climate change. Les bâtiments existants offrent la meilleure possibilité de réduction des émissions de gaz à effet de serre dans les économies développées, étant donné que les constructions neuves ne représentent chaque année que 2 à 3% du parc bâti. Les enseignements retirés d'une évaluation après occupation d'une opération de rénovation à grande échelle réalisée dans l'immeuble d'un siège social de Sydney, en Australie, sont présentés afin d'infléchir les futures stratégies en matière de rénovation. L'étude évalue la satisfaction des occupants et les performances énergétiques, et met au jour les facteurs d'influence qui découlent du processus de conception et des interventions réalisées, de la gestion en cours du bâtiment et des performances de fonctionnement. Les occupants ont exprimé un degré de satisfaction élevé sur l'ensemble des variables environnementales concernant le confort global, la température, l'éclairage et la qualité de l'air, aussi bien que la productivité et la santé telles qu'ils les ont perçues. Ces résultats mettent en évidence le fait qu'il est important d'améliorer la qualité environnementale intérieure pour les occupants, tout particulièrement en apportant davantage d'air frais et de lumière du jour, un plus grand contrôle de l'éblouissement, un accès accru à des panoramas et une gestion renforcée du bruit. Ces résultats positifs renforcent l'utilité d'une approche intégrée et sensible aux besoins des utilisateurs, telle qu'elle a été adoptée pour concevoir, aménager et gérer ce bâtiment. La réduction de l'énergie de fonctionnement (dans cette opération, conjointement avec la réduction du carbone) en conséquence de la rénovation et du feedback positif des utilisateurs démontre le potentiel de cette approche pour permettre aux bâtiments existants de bien affronter l'avenir dans le contexte du changement climatique. Mots clés: adaptation, changement climatique, confort, énergie, qualité environnementale intérieure, conception intégrée, occupants, évaluation après occupation, rénovation
Leena E. Thomas. Evaluating design strategies, performance and occupant satisfaction: a low carbon office refurbishment. Building Research & Information 2010, 38, 610 -624.
AMA StyleLeena E. Thomas. Evaluating design strategies, performance and occupant satisfaction: a low carbon office refurbishment. Building Research & Information. 2010; 38 (6):610-624.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLeena E. Thomas. 2010. "Evaluating design strategies, performance and occupant satisfaction: a low carbon office refurbishment." Building Research & Information 38, no. 6: 610-624.