Comparisons of Indoor Air Quality and Thermal Comfort Quality between Certification Levels of LEED-Certified Buildings in USA

Abstract

This study investigated whether indoor air quality (IAQ) and thermal comfort quality that were measured by occupants’ environmental satisfaction and their perceived job performance in personal workspaces of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified buildings were associated with the rating level of the LEED certification. This was to find the evidence whether the work environment of LEED-certified buildings with a higher certification level could also achieve higher IAQ and thermal comfort from occupants’ evaluation. In this study, both occupants’ environmental satisfaction and perceived job performance in IAQ and thermal comfort quality from 15 LEED-certified buildings were compared between four building groups based on the LEED certification levels. This study found that there was a positive correlation between the two to some degree from the ANOVA tests at 95% confidence intervals. This study also examined whether the level of environmental satisfaction and perceived job performance in IAQ and thermal comfort quality was related to the level of their satisfaction with the overall building quality. It was found that perceived job performance enhanced by IAQ was positively associated with their satisfaction with the overall building quality from the Pearson correlation coefficient analysis.