Green Building Occupant Satisfaction: Evidence from the Australian Higher Education Sector

Maryam Khoshbakht,Baojie He,Zhonghua Gou,Xiaohuan Xie,Amos Darko

doi:10.3390/su10082890

Maryam Khoshbakht, Baojie He + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su10082890

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Abstract

Universities spend billions of dollars on green buildings as a sustainability commitment. This research investigates occupant satisfaction with indoor environmental quality (IEQ), building design (BD), and facilities management (FM) in five highly ranked green higher educational buildings in the subtropical climate of Australia, in comparison to nine non-green counterparts. The results disclose that the green building users were more consistently satisfied than the non-green building users with BD&FM elements, such as design, needs from facilities, building image, cleaning, the availability of meeting rooms, and storage. On the other hand, the study revealed weaknesses of green buildings in IEQ, such as noise, ventilation, and artificial lighting. The individual environmental control positively correlated with satisfaction in non-green buildings, but did not significantly affect satisfaction in green buildings. This study also identified the influences of non-environmental factors on occupant satisfaction, such as gender, age, sitting close to a window, hours spent in the building and in the workstation, and the number of people sharing office space. The research provides evidence and guidance for investing in, designing, and managing green educational facilities.

Highlights

Green buildings are designed to represent an architecture that is environmentally responsible and resource efficient through the buildings’ whole life cycle [1]
Overall Indoor air quality (IAQ) and overall thermal comfort in AC green buildings scored significantly higher when compared with non-green buildings, while no significant differences in overall scores were detected in MM buildings
This study showed that Green Star buildings were more successful in delivering satisfactory workplace environments regarding some indoor environmental quality (IEQ) and building design (BD)&facilities management (FM) parameters, while some weaknesses were detected that showed occupant dissatisfaction with Green Star buildings

Summary

Introduction

Green buildings are designed to represent an architecture that is environmentally responsible and resource efficient through the buildings’ whole life cycle [1]. Green rating tools have been initiated to accelerate sustainable transformation towards more energy- and resource-efficient, and healthy and productive buildings [2]. The number of green building occupant satisfaction studies from Australia is small. There is an urgent call for examination of these certified buildings To meet this call, this research presents an occupant satisfaction study on Green Star buildings in Australia. Many universities are investing billions of dollars into constructing green buildings showcasing their sustainability commitment [8]. These green buildings are used for science laboratories to incubate innovative green technologies; they are used for offices to facilitate academic and research activities. The study aims to provide evidence from users’ experience to examine these green education facilities

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