Effects of indoor environment on building occupants

• Main Author: Patel, Vishwa
• Other Authors: Yang En-Hua
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Environmental engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/69310
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The main purpose of a building is to serve its occupants. The indoor environment can have an impact on the well-being and the productivity of its occupants. An important aspect of this indoor environment is lighting. This study was undertaken to determine to what extent different levels of lighting affects the performance, health and well-being of building occupants. It was assumed that through these factors, the lighting condition can affect the overall productivity of the individuals. An experiment was conducted under two distinct conditions (“Bright”– an illuminance of 1500 Lux and “Dim” – an illuminance of 300 Lux) of the light environment with the help of computer-based work-performance evaluation tasks and subjective questionnaires. Volunteers were recruited as test participants and asked to complete the tasks under both conditions of illuminance. A statistical analysis of the responses of the test participants for both performance evaluation tasks and subjective questionnaire showed that there was an improvement in their performance, physiological and psychological well-being, as well as their general satisfaction, under the Bright condition as compared to the Dim Condition. However, this improvement is not definitive because only the level of lighting illuminance was considered for this experiment. To obtain more conclusive findings, further studies need to be conducted that include several other factors of lighting such as quality, source, uniformity and reflectance. For a more holistic approach, it also necessary to analyse the biological effects of lighting conditions on human beings.