University students’ perception of the sound environment at their home study places

People are staying indoors for most of their time (on average 90%), where they are exposed to different environmental stimuli (e.g., noise, temperature) that are related to the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) factors (Bluyssen, 2020). Students in higher education spend substantial time at their study places (at home or educational buildings)...

Self-reported rhinitis and headaches of students from universities in Taiwan, Chile, Suriname, China and the Netherlands, and its association with their home environment

Next to personal, psychosocial and physiological aspects, environmental aspects of homes may affect the health and comfort of their occupants. This study aimed to investigate the multifactorial character of both rhinitis and headaches among five groups of students from universities in five different cities: Taichung (Taiwan), Concepcion (Chile),...

Building characteristics associated with self-reported dry eyes and headaches of outpatient workers in hospital buildings

Building-related health symptoms are multifactorial, hence a comprehensive study is needed to identify associations of such symptoms with building aspects. Previous studies have identified certain building characteristics as risk factors for both dry eyes and headaches, which are among the most prevalent symptoms suffered by office workers....

Substantiation of home occupant archetypes with the use of generative techniques: analysis and results of focus groups

A previous study clustered home occupants into archetypes with a questionnaire. This study uses qualitative methods to strengthen those previously-found archetypes with data pertaining to the participants’ home experiences. Focus groups were carried out where generative activities were conducted involving the generation of collages. The first...

Towards an integrated analysis of the indoor environmental factors and its effects on occupants

Research has shown that staying indoors is not good for our health, even though the conditions seem to comply with current guidelines for indoor environmental quality (IEQ). The growing field of indoor health and comfort studies in schools, offices and homes, shows a discrepancy of current standards with end-users needs. In a previous review...

Comfort and health of patients and staff, related to the physical environment of different departments in hospitals: a literature review

Due to the increasing demand for healthcare and the large impact on the finance of hospital buildings in the near future, study is needed on aspects that affect health and comfort of patients and staff in hospitals. Therefore, a literature review was performed on studies related to specific hospital departments and occupant groups, in order...

Making a home out of a temporary dwelling: a literature review and building transformation case studies

Temporary transformations of vacant buildings could alleviate the shortage of housing for urgent home seekers. However, not much is known about the transformation of buildings into temporary, adequate, and affordable housing. A multidisciplinary literature review covering design, indoor environmental quality, housing, and environmental...

Self-reported health and comfort of school children in 54 classrooms of 21 Dutch school buildings

Background<br/>While the indoor environmental quality of classrooms is a potential issue because it may affect the wellbeing of school children, the relations are still poorly studied. This study aimed to investigate the relations between classroom characteristics and health and comfort of school children.<br/><br/>Material and methods<br/>A...

SenseLab: a genuine playground for the senses

What is Senselab? The ‘SenseLab’, a playground for the senses, is a laboratory for testing and experiencing single and combinations of indoor environmental conditions.

Green air conditioning: Using indoor living wall systems as a climate control method

The role of flooring materials in health, comfort and performance of children in classrooms

From previous and recent studies is clear that an indoor environment of a school, may affect the health, comfort and performance of schoolchildren. Besides the occupants and their activities, the windows and the outdoor environment and the type of ventilation system, the interior (furnishing incl. flooring materials) is an important contributor...

Self-reported rhinitis of students from different universities in the Netherlands and its association with their home environment

Background<br/>While the indoor environmental quality of student homes is a potential issue since it may affect the wellbeing of the students, the relations are still poorly studied. This study aimed to investigate the relations between home building characteristics and rhinitis in students.<br/><br/>Material and methods<br/>A questionnaire was...

Office characteristics and dry eye complaints in European workers: The OFFICAIR study

Objectives Ocular discomfort is a prevalent health complaint in offices. It is hypothesized that, in addition to individual and occupational factors, the buildings' indoor environment may affect eye complaints. However, insight in potential building-related causal factors, needed to allow development of effective prevention strategies in...

How and why do people respond to indoor environmental stressors

Indoor environment quality as a multi-level, multi-factor, multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder issue

A condensed version of the inaugural speech “Understanding the indoor environment” spoken on May 22, 2013 at the occasion of her acceptance of the position of full professor of Indoor Environment at the Faculty of Architecture of the Delft University of Technology.

Understanding the Indoor Environment: How To Assess and Improve Indoor Environmental Quality of People?

For the establishment of basic requirements and needs a different view on indoor environment quality (IEQ) is required. An integrated approach towards risk assessment of IEQ, in which the focus is on real exposure situations rather than only on single components, will form the basis for creating healthy and comfortable indoor environments....