Speaker
Description
Background: While the acoustic environment is widely recognized as a major source of annoyance in open-plan offices, satisfaction with the physical workspace is inherently multidimensional. The workplace well-being of an individual is influenced by various factors, including noise levels, lighting conditions, thermal comfort, and number of people in the workspace. The objective of this study is to assess the relative impact of various environmental factors on the overall satisfaction of occupants in open-plan offices. Methodology: A large-scale field study was conducted in thirty-one open-plan office spaces, covering a range of activities such as call centers, individual workspaces, and collaborative workspaces. The research integrated objective measurements (sound levels, reverberation time, speech attenuation, lighting levels, temperature, and humidity, as well as real-time occupancy rate data) with subjective observations. A detailed questionnaire was administered to approximately 450 occupants to assess their perceptions of acoustics (e.g., overall noise, speech noise, equipment noise), lighting, thermal environment, visual comfort, and perceived density. Results: Initial analyses, conducted using regression models based solely on subjective data, indicate that while acoustics remains a determining factor in satisfaction, it does not act in isolation. It appears that perceived density and visibility are both key factors in predicting overall environmental satisfaction. The main results will be presented at the conference.