Understanding the perceived productivity of office occupants in relation to workspace thermal environment

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study examines the perceived productivity of office occupants in moderate thermal environments in Chile. Specifically, it analyses environmental parameters and contrasts participants’ self-reported answers to cross-sectional and retrospective questionnaires. To this end, data were collected for one day in winter and one day in summer, in eighteen office buildings in the cities of Concepción and Santiago. The results show that the average operative temperatures are 22.2 °C in winter and 23.5 °C in summer. 80.5% of the occupants declared their productivity to be normal on the cross-sectional survey. However, on the retrospective survey, 82.7% said that their productivity is affected by the thermal environment. To reveal the interrelationships between perceived productivity and the thermal environment, a categorical principal components analysis was carried out. It demonstrated that there is only a relationship between cross-sectional and retrospective productivity in winter. Subsequently, a good-fitting structural equation model was created, which showed that different relationships exist between the variables. These findings could enable organizations and design professionals to better understand occupants’ perceived productivity in relation to thermal conditions in office buildings.