Office worker response to lighting and daylighting issues in workspace environments: A pilot survey

Abstract

Based on a pilot survey of workers in an office building in St. Louis, Missouri, we evaluate reported levels of importance and satisfaction associated with lighting controls and other environmental conditions in workspaces and how they relate to physical features of the building and selected socio-demographic characteristics. We found that most respondents considered the majority of their workspace conditions important and satisfactory. The data suggest a negative relationship between how people evaluate the importance of and their satisfaction with their working environment: those who are least satisfied with features of their workspace consider these features very important, and vice versa. We also found that floor location, window orientation, and gender of worker were statistically significant correlates of many attitudes toward workspace features. Optimal benefits from new lighting and related control technologies will require good design and efficient hardware; however, our results suggest that careful integration of these technologies with worker values and priorities is essential if potential benefits are to be realized.