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This study explored the relationship between children's subjective perception of indoor environmental quality in classrooms, measured thermal and air quality factors, and the type of ventilation. Environmental data were collected in 45 classrooms in 23 primary schools in Sweden during the heating season. Schools with three types of ventilation were recruited: natural or exhaust ventilation (category A), balanced supply-exhaust with constant air volume (category B), and balanced supply-exhaust with variable air volume or demand-controlled ventilation (category C). 796 children (8–14 years of age) answered a questionnaire about their perception of the classroom's indoor environment. Based on ten dichotomous questions, the children's overall perceptions and subjective well-being was scored (“Individual score”) from worst (0) to best (10) perception. A Perception Index (PI) was calculated as the arithmetic mean of the Individual scores from all children in a given classroom. We did not find statistically significant differences in the Individual scores or PI between the three ventilation categories. However, the PI of classrooms with ventilation category A, which also had lower ventilation rates and higher concentrations of pollutants, was noticeably lower than that in classrooms with ventilation category B or C. Correlations between the PI and most of the measured environmental parameters or the individual questions about perception were weak and not significant. The PI may be improved by including factors not considered in this study, such as those related to acoustic and lighting conditions.

The perception, physiology, behavior, and performance of building occupants are influenced by multi-domain exposures: the simultaneous presence of multiple environmental stimuli, i.e., visual, thermal, acoustic, and air quality. Despite being extensive, the literature on multi-domain exposures presents heterogeneous methodo-logical approaches and inconsistent study reporting, which hinder direct comparison between studies and meta -analyses. Therefore, in addition to carrying out more multi-domain studies, such investigations need to be designed, conducted, and documented in a systematic and transparent way. With the goal to facilitate and support future multi-domain studies and their meta-analyses, this work provides (1) a range of criteria for multi -domain study design and reporting (i.e., defined as quality criteria), and (2) a critical review of the multi-domain literature based on the described criteria, which can serve as guidelines and recommendations for future studies on the topic. The identified quality criteria encompass study set-up, study deployment and analysis, and study outcome, stressing the importance of adopting a consistent terminology and result reporting style. The developed critical review highlights several shortcomings in the design, deployment, and documentation of multi-domain studies, emphasizing the need for quality improvements of future multi-domain research. The ultimate goal of this work is to consolidate our knowledge on multi-domain exposures for its integration into regulatory resources and guidelines, which are currently dominated by single-domain knowledge.

The objective of this research is to describe and compare three different methods of generating ‘persona for lighting’ to envision users’ behaviour within the lighting environment. ‘Personas’ are used to represent typical users, highlighting their needs, perspectives, and expectations to aid user-centric design approaches. The researchers looked for the most useful method of shaping ‘personas for lighting’ to learn about users’ satisfaction with the various lighting conditions to identify their needs. Method one of lighting persona development, was based on interviews with 87 users of five buildings of four different types: an office, a primary school, two university buildings, and a factory. The lighting conditions were observed and measured in all the buildings. As a result, 22 personas for lighting were created. In method two personas were generated based on pre-interviews, workshops on lighting and post-interviews with ten users along with the onsite lighting measurements. Later, due to the Covid-19 pandemic’s lockdowns, an online survey on the visual lighting environment in home offices was carried out among 694 students and professionals from seven countries to create two more personas for lighting (method three). All 26 ‘personas for lighting’ were generated in relation to observed lighting conditions, based on the satisfaction, preferences and needs of the users working within variously lit indoor environments. All the tested methods can be used for nearly any type of building and room, but the resulting personas are different due to the specific limitations of the methods. The created personas may help to identify future users’ lighting preferences, needs and requirements and assist designers. However, to fully understand their impact on the lighting research practice they should be tested in real projects.

The perception, physiology, behavior, and performance of building occupants are influenced by multi-domain exposures: the simultaneous presence of multiple environmental stimuli, i.e., visual, thermal, acoustic, and air quality. Despite being extensive, the literature on multi-domain exposures presents heterogeneous methodological approaches and inconsistent study reporting, which hinders direct comparison between studies and meta-analyses. Therefore, in addition to carrying out more multi-domain studies, such investigations need to be designed, conducted, and documented in a systematic and transparent way. With the goal to facilitate and support future multi-domain studies and their meta-analyses, this work provides (1) a range of criteria for multi-domain study design and reporting (i.e., defined as quality criteria), and (2) a critical review of the multi-domain literature based on the described criteria, which can serve as guidelines and recommendations for future studies on the topic. The identified quality criteria encompass study set-up, study deployment and analysis, and study outcome, stressing the importance of adopting a consistent terminology and result reporting style. The developed critical review highlights several shortcomings in the design, deployment, and documentation of multi-domain studies, emphasizing the need for quality improvements of future multi-domain research. The ultimate goal of this work is to consolidate our knowledge on multi-domain exposures for its integration into regulatory resources and guidelines, which are currently dominated by single-domain knowledge.

The global pandemic and physical distancing restrictions are forcing us to rethink how residential buildings are used regarding the visual environment. This paper describes home office lighting conditions within different countries and continents. The aim is to define the current limitations of home offices in providing a resilient visual environment. The work was developed by a team of international experts working together on Subtask A: User perspective and requirements, in International Energy Agency IEA SHC Task 61/EBC Annex 77 “Integrated Solutions for Daylighting and Electric Lighting”. The method included an international online survey in 6 countries in South America, Europe and East Asia containing 37 questions about general data, physical characteristics of the home office and occupant’s perception, behaviour and needs regarding the visual environments, and photos taken by the occupants. Descriptive statistics, inspection of the photos, and qualitative analysis from the open-ended question were performed. In total, 694 responses and 453 photos were analysed, making it possible to identify the occupants’ perceptions about the lighting and visual environment in the home offices both for professionals and students. The results indicate cultural differences in styles of residential buildings and interiors, in the custom of using lighting, and between continents and occupational categories. Possible improvements are suggested.

This paper presents a critical review of studies addressing the effects of window views, daylighting, and lighting on occupant behavior, perception, performance, and well-being. A systematic search in the Scopus database was performed in November 2021 and yielded 515 hits. Seventy-six studies were selected according to the following criteria: i) papers presenting research results with participants’ responses and ii) accounting for daylighting, lighting, or window view assessments. The study and setting features, participants, predictors and outcomes, the statistical approach, the reported significance level, and study limitations were extracted from each paper. The analysis then identified differences in the effect of the predictor on the outcome. The number of records obtained through the structured analysis was 240. A wide range of predictors have been used in indoor daylighting, lighting, and window view research to assess people’s responses. The most commonly used predictors were artificial lighting features and window features -qualitative predictors - followed by some properties of the light sources, such as correlated color temperature, spectral distribution and horizontal illuminance. Differences in the methods for data collection, the used predictors, the outcomes, and the ways to measure the outcomes generated inconclusive results or results that were limited to the specific study. We extracted data from selected studies to suggest a simple model for the prediction of occupant performance from illuminance and correlated color temperature. The data points were few and scattered and the model, therefore, suffers from considerable uncertainties. Yet, it quantifies performance effects in ranges that are comparable with similar models from other indoor environment domains.

This paper depicts lighting home office conditions within different countries and continents, emphasizing the user's satisfaction with the visual environment. The scope of this article is to investigate the drivers of participants' satisfaction with the lighting conditions at the home office. The study was developed by a team of international experts working together on Subtask A: User perspective and requirements, Task 61 IEA (International Energy Agency): Solutions for daylighting and electric lighting. An online survey was launched in December 2020 and closed on March 2021. The survey was implemented in the native languages of six participant countries (Brazil, Colombia, Denmark, Italy, Poland, and Japan) using Google Forms, and its dissemination was via various social media platforms. Measures of association between variables and predictive tests were run to explore which investigated aspects drove participants' satisfaction with the lighting conditions at the home office. We found some differences in satisfaction due to participants' sex, occupation, and participants' continent of residence. Females were more satisfied with daylight than males. Associations between the perception of seven light descriptors and satisfaction showed differences between East Asians and the rest of the participants, which might be related to the high dependence of the formers on electric lighting even when daylight is available. Design features as southern facades, the distance from the working area to the window, type of internal sun shading were related to daylighting satisfaction. Moreover, satisfaction with the general light level and the electric light was higher for those participants who did not need to switch on the ceiling, floor, or desk lamp when daylight was available. We found that an external view composed of 3 layers and the sky's visibility afforded a higher satisfaction with the window view. Having an independent room for the home office appeared to be related to

The consumption of energy for lighting in buildings depends very much on the way people interact with the build environment. In this study the following building types were studied, office, school, university, commercial and industry buildings. For each building type typical user groups were identified. Then, Personas have been created for each group. As opposed to describing users with numbers and statistics, a single Persona reflects a group and is presented with a narrative. The Persona has a name, a family and living conditions that are representative for the group, also her/his values and interests are not uncommon. The Personas “typical day” includes a time schedule typical for the group. Visual conditions are common for the group, but some specific challenges connected to the visual conditions that may occur in the group are also mentioned. Personas were created using one of the three methods: interview at the working or learning place, workshop at the working place, and internet survey which was used in the time of pandemic lock-down. Those methods are described in the chapter 2 Methodology and evaluated based on the authors experience, chapter 9 Conclusions. Chapters 3-7 presents Personas for the offices, schools, university buildings, commercial buildings, and industry buildings. In the chapter 8 Home office personas, student and professional, are presented. The report ends with the description of energy consumption calculation that applies Lumen method which is based on the use of a Coefficient of Utilization (CU). CU computes the fraction of lamp lumens that directly reach the workplane and the fraction from interreflections. The boundary conditions of use of the respective buildings, based on the results from literature review and interviews with users, are also presented, table 2.