Occupant satisfaction in LEED and BREEAM-certified office buildings

Altomonte, Sergio; Saadouni, Sara; Schiavon, Stefano

Abstract

Green certification schemes, such as LEED in US and BREEAM in UK, are contributing to promote the sustainability agenda in the design and operation of office buildings. However, the role of rating tools towards improved workplace experience is still much debated. Previous work by the authors provided evidence that LEED rating per se does not significantly and substantively influence occupant satisfaction with indoor environment qualities, although tendencies showed that LEED-certified buildings were more effective in delivering satisfaction in open spaces rather than in enclosed offices, and in small rather than in large buildings. This paper investigates occupant satisfaction in BREEAM-rated office buildings in UK. User responses were collected by cross-sectional questionnaires and point-in-time surveys administered while physical measurements were taken. Consistent with earlier work, the results showed that BREEAM certification does not have a significant and practically-relevant effect on building and workspace satisfaction, although tendencies revealed that occupants of non-BREEAM buildings were more satisfied with visual privacy and air quality than users of BREEAM-rated workspaces. Lower satisfaction was detected in BREEAM buildings for occupants having spent more than 24 months at their workplace. These results support previous findings, suggesting further research on the sustained benefits of green certification over time.

Citation

Altomonte, S., Saadouni, S., & Schiavon, S. Occupant satisfaction in LEED and BREEAM-certified office buildings. Presented at 36th International Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture. Cities, Buildings, People: Towards Regenerative Environments (PLEA 2016)

• Conference Name: 36th International Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture. Cities, Buildings, People: Towards Regenerative Environments (PLEA 2016)
• End Date: Jul 13, 2016
• Acceptance Date: May 31, 2016
• Publication Date: Jul 11, 2016
• Deposit Date: Jul 26, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 26, 2016
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Keywords: Occupant satisfaction, BREEAM, LEED, Post-occupancy evaluation, Indoor environmental quality
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/801358
• Publisher URL: http://plea2016.uscarch.com/index.php/pleapapers/fullpapers/paper/view/1263
• Contract Date: Jul 26, 2016