Profiling office workers based on their self-reported preferences of indoor environmental quality and psychosocial comfort at their workplace during COVID-19

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a large number of office workers were required to conduct their work from home. Little is known about the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) preferences and psychosocial comfort preferences of staff working from home. Therefore this study aimed to cluster office workers working at home based on their self-reported...

Students’ self-reported health and psychosocial status at home before and during COVID-19

During the COVID-19 outbreak, university courses were shifted online and students spent the majority of their time inside their homes. However, staying indoors can affect students’ health due to the exposure to several environmental stressors, such as background noise, and/or inefficient ventilation, and/or insufficient lighting. Previous...

Office workers’ health during the pandemic lockdown in the Netherlands

The worldwide spread of the Coronavirus disease 2019 forced governments to enact different measures to mitigate the infections. Employers and workers had to adjust by shifting a substantial number of jobs to a “work from home” configuration (WFH). On average, people used to spend around 90% of their time indoors, however, this number may have...

Usability assessment of an interactive health technology for kidney living donors: protocol for a prospective cross-sectional survey

Introduction Several web portals for kidney patients are available, but assessments of their performance are scarce. A crucial aspect of living donation is to provide standardised information about the risks of the procedure. This is of particular interest among candidates for kidney living donation. In 2019, the Digital Care Path for Living...

A review on indoor environmental quality in sports facilities: Indoor air quality and ventilation during a pandemic

Because of COVID-19, the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) in sports facilities has been a concern to environmental health practitioners. To develop an overall understanding of the available guidelines and standards and studies performed on IEQ in sports facilities, an extensive literature study was conducted, with the aim of identifying: (1)...

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),...

Preferences for Indoor Environmental and Social Comfort of Outpatient Staff during the COVID-19 Pandemic, an Explanatory Study

While the pressure on hospital workers keeps growing, they are generally more dissatisfied with their comfort than other occupants in hospitals or offices. To better understand the comfort of outpatient workers in hospitals, clusters for preferences and perceptions of the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) and social comfort were identified in a...

Indoor environmental quality related risk factors with energy-efficient retrofitting of housing: A literature review

There are indications that energy-retrofitted buildings can create risks for indoor environmental quality (IEQ) and therefore for health and comfort of occupants. A review was conducted to identify and verify those risks, within three themes: building envelope, heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC)-systems, and occupants. Publications...

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...

A review of comfort, health, and energy use: Understanding daily energy use and wellbeing for the development of a new approach to study comfort

There is a need for reducing dwellings’ energy consumption while maintaining a comfortable and healthy indoor environment. This review was performed to provide a steppingstone for identifying new methods for studying everyday home energy use and comfort. First, an overview of comfort is given as seen from different disciplines, depicting the...

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...