User's perception of indoor environment associated with energy performance in apartment complexes with different service life

Abstract

Residents’ illnesses related to new houses have recently become a popular topic for Sick Building Syndrome research. Compared to the research dealing with symptoms experienced by residents in newly built houses, little attention has been paid to the healthy life of residents in old houses. Thus, we investigate residents’ experience of healthy life in two apartment complexes that have been in service for different amounts of time and ascertain whether any difference exists between them. It is generally believed that the energy efficiency of old apartments has decreased, and thus residents’ comfort and health in such apartments would deteriorate according to the apartments’ service life. This study aims to obtain an insight into residents’ perceived experience in older apartments. We use three survey methods for the investigation and analyze the data from the residents’ perspective. The results show that the physical properties of the apartments do not have much influence on the residents’ perceived comfort and health; further, energy efficiency does not affect their perceived comfort and health either. The critical influencing factor for residents’ discomfort is the indoor temperature, not any of the other physical conditions of the apartments.