Evaluation of Indoor Environmental Quality in Health-Care Facilities – Vancouver

Dr. Karen Bartlett / Dr. Murray Hodgson

Denny Ng examines ventilation, while Dr. Murray Hodgson assesses noise levels.

Which physical attributes of indoor office environments are most predictive of workers’ satisfaction, productivity, health, and well-being? Drs. Murray Hodgson, Karen Bartlett, Leila Scannell (SPPH Post Doctoral Fellow), and Maureen Haddock, a Facilities Planner at Lower Mainland Facilities Management, are investigating this question in twenty-two office buildings belonging to three Lower Mainland health authorities (Vancouver Coastal Health, Fraser Health, and the Provincial Health Services Authority).

Jinying Sun and Dr. Karen Bartlett with indoor air quality equipment.

Student researchers Jinying Sun (SPPH, Occupational and Environmental Health), Yingwei Huang (UBC Electrical Engineering), Denny Ng (UBC Mechanical Engineering), and Juliette Rauscher, from ENTPE (Ecole Nationale des Travaux Publics de l’Etat) in Lyon, France, are also assisting with this project.

The project involves taking objective measures of indoor environmental quality, including lighting, thermal comfort, air quality, ventilation, and acoustics. Workers’ subjective impressions of their spaces, and various health and well-being outcomes, are then being captured through a comprehensive online questionnaire.

Leila Scannell, Juliette Rauscher (with thermal comfort measurement equipment), and Maureen Haddock.

Knowledge of which physical features most strongly predict occupant satisfaction will be used by designers and facilities management to set standards and performance objectives. Because few studies have examined these subjective-objective interrelations, the project will also contribute to the scholarly literature on building performance and workplace satisfaction.

Juliette Rauscher and Yingwei Huang, with lighting and thermal confort equipment.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Source: SPPH Summer activities series