The Effect of Indoor Air Quality on Occupants’ Health and Performance in Office Buildings in Dubai
| dc.Location | 2013 HC 79 A47 | |
| dc.Supervisor | Dr Moshood Olawale Fadeyi | |
| dc.contributor.author | AlSumaiti, Abeer | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2014-02-10T07:49:16Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2014-02-10T07:49:16Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2013-05 | |
| dc.description.abstract | As people spend most of their time indoors, enough attention should be given to the indoor environment conditions including the air quality. A lot of parameters should be tested and measured to determine if the indoor environment in office buildings is healthy enough for the occupants or not. This study is focusing on how the Indoor Air quality (IAQ) has a great effect on the performance and productivity of employees working in office buildings. Moreover, IAQ is directly related to the way the building occupants perform their daily tasks. To elaborate, a healthy indoor environment will lead to a better performance and an increase in the employees’ productivity. This paper is a research document that demonstrates the importance of indoor air quality control on the employees’ health, performance and productivity. In addition, it will thoroughly explain the major factors that affect the IAQ of the office environment, how to control the poor IAQ in an office and it will provide key guidelines to provide a healthier office with a high satisfaction rate of employees. In this study, four offices were selected in various locations in Dubai. The study was done through various phases including: walk-through investigation, subjective and objective study phases. Moreover, special attention was given to the key industries in UAE market and the selection of the office types was aligned to the study of the market. This study can be described as a comprehensive analysis for the indoor air quality issue in Dubai offices for the major industries including: Financial institutions, Academic Institutions, Furniture suppliers and Lighting solutions. This document clearly summarizes the previous researches completed in the same area of indoor air quality and shows the common design practices in Dubai. The detailed analysis of the four case-studies was the first step to identify the design errors in Dubai offices and propose some solutions to control the poor indoor air quality problem, considering the critical consequences on people’s performance, productivity and most importantly health. Qualitative and quantitative measures are used to collect the study data and analyze the current practices in Dubai offices. In the qualitative research, the behavioral actions of people towards several variables are tested and how they will react to given circumstances, in this case the IAQ. The methods used to perform this research are surveys, and observation. This method helped to collect data about people’s perception of their office environment and the signs of their discomfort. In addition, in the qualitative research, the science and technology is used to generate data. Different machines and instruments were used to collect as much as data as possible to form the final results of the study. Spot and continuous measurements were completed in the different zones within the selected offices , in order to test the key IAQ parameters: TVOC, Carbon Dioxide ,Ozone ,Carbon Monoxide, Temperature, Relative Humidity and Toulene. The findings of this paper will enhance the working environment in Dubai offices. This study is not only a study reference or a design guide, but also a solid framework that can be followed by actions and regulations. In addition, this study finding will increase the level of awareness of indoor air quality in this part of the region and develop the sustainability approach in office environment, to protect the occupants’ health and increase their performance and productivity levels. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.other | 80044 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://bspace.buid.ac.ae/handle/1234/526 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
| dc.publisher | The British University in Dubai (BUiD) | en_US |
| dc.subject | indoor air quality | en_US |
| dc.subject | occupants’ health | en_US |
| dc.subject | office buildings | en_US |
| dc.subject | Dubai | en_US |
| dc.subject | United Arab Emirates (UAE) | en_US |
| dc.title | The Effect of Indoor Air Quality on Occupants’ Health and Performance in Office Buildings in Dubai | en_US |
| dc.type | Dissertation | en_US |