Understanding occupancy pattern of university libraries in the post-pandemic era

Understanding indoor occupancy patterns is crucial for energy model calibration, efficient operations of fresh air systems, and COVID-19 exposure risk assessment. University libraries, as one of centers of campus life, due to the high mobility and "foot-voting” nature of them, i.e., occupants pick seats in the micro-environments they prefer, provide a non-intrusive opportunity to carry out post-occupancy evaluations. We conducted a long-term online monitoring of occupancy in libraries of a university in China by web-crawling the online seat reservation system, based on which, we constructed two sets of databases consisting of around 70 million records of nearly 3, 000 seats in 4 library sections, with seat-level resolution and sampling frequency up to every 10 seconds. The informative data set depicts not only the overall spatio-temporal occupancy patterns, but also nuances hidden within seats and visits. The daily flow of the main libraries exceeded two visits per seat. Half of the visitors stayed at the libraries for 3-6 hours during a single occupancy. Semester schedules and campus accessibility together influence students' decisions on when and which library to go, while even within the same zone, some seats were always more popular than their neighbours. "Semi-isolation” is one of the candidate attractive features proposed to understand the underlying patterns. © 2022 17th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, INDOOR AIR 2022. All rights reserved.

The Need for a Paradigm Shift toward an Occupant-Centered Environmental Control Model

Office-based environmental control systems are centralized and designed to control entire spaces, ignoring use dynamics and requirements, and despite being regulated by standardized comfort models, they fail to satisfy real occupants, mainly due to their varied individual characteristics. This research is field-based with a quantitative approach and correlational design. Its objective is to empirically demonstrate that open-plan design, where different users share the same space and generalized environmental conditions, lacks a holistic view of IEQ criteria and the integration of other factors that affect health and well-being. Four buildings are chosen in different Chilean cities, measuring temperatures and CO2 levels at different desks, and applying a survey, which was designed as part of the research to analyze the estimation of relationships between variables and to reveal the factors that cause differences among occupants. The results show that people's satisfaction is multivariable and depends on other factors that positively or negatively stimulate their sensations and perceptions, such as, for example, the option to personally control their environmental conditions. Likewise, it is evident that to achieve comfort, health is being affected while in the building.

Measurement and rapid assessment of indoor air quality at mass gathering events to assess ventilation performance and reduce aerosol transmission of SARS-CoV-2

To assess risk factors for COVID-19 transmission and address the closure of mass gathering events since March 2020, the UK Government ran the Events Research Programme (ERP), following which it reopened live events in sports, music, and culture in July 2021. We report the rapid post-occupancy evaluation of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and associated long-range airborne transmission risk conducted in the Environmental Study of the ERP. Ten large venues around the UK were monitored with CO2 sensors at a high spatial and temporal resolution during 90 events. An IAQ Index based on CO2 concentration was developed, and all monitored spaces were classified in bands from A to G based on their average and maximum CO2 concentrations from all events. High resolution monitoring and the IAQ Index depicted the overall state of ventilation at live events, and allowed identification of issues with ventilation effectiveness and distribution, and of spaces with poor ventilation and the settings in which long-range airborne transmission risk may be increased. In numerous settings, CO2 concentrations were found to follow patterns relating to event management and specific occupancy of spaces around the venues. Good ventilation was observed in 90% of spaces monitored for given occupancies. Practical applications: High-resolution monitoring of indoor CO2 concentrations is necessary to detect the spatial variation of indoor air quality (IAQ) in large mass gathering event venues. The paper summarises COVID-19 ventilation guidance for buildings and defines a methodology for measurement and rapid assessment of IAQ during occupancy at live events that can be implemented by venue managers. Comparisons of the CO2 concentrations measured during the events identified the spaces at high risk of long-range transmission of airborne pathogens. Building operators should be mindful of the ventilation strategies used relative to the total occupancy in different spaces and the occupant's activities.

Congruence Mapping of the Activity Flows Allocated in Built Environments: A Pilot Application of Under-Development Software in an Emergency-Care Service

Featured ApplicationThis paper presents the application of a software program that is currently under development that provides feedback for the mapping activities that are carried out in built environments and analyses the congruence in the relationship between the flow of activities and their environments. Exemplary results were obtained in the case study of a healthcare emergency facility, although it is possible to apply this software in other types of complex environments. The obtained data allow facility managers to prioritize and reallocate activities when a change is required. It also shows unmapped relationships. It is important to investigate these data because they can indicate failures in the mapping process and can provide an opportunity to obtain a more complete understanding of the allocation and flow of activities. These data can also help us to identify points of conflict or opportunities for adjustment in the allocation of activities in order to improve the flow of activities.Due to the large number of activities that must be carried out by emergency-care services (ESs), the tasks of facility managers and architects are challenging and complex. Several strategies, guides, and diagnoses have already been developed in order to improve ESs. Part of the solution to this problem depends on obtaining a normative and universal understanding of the problem, and another part depends on conducting a specific and relational analysis between the environment and the flow of activities that are allocated within it. This paper presents the results of a study that was conducted using a software program that is currently under development for mapping the congruence relationship between activities and environments. Here, we present a discussion of the first results that were obtained with the instrument, which was applied to a single case. For this purpose, the fundamentals of the instrument, as well as the environment and the flows of an ES at a university hospital, are described. The forms of analysis, benefits, and limitations of the instrument were investigated, with a view towards its use in supporting the management and the design of large and complex environments, such as emergency departments. In this program, the relationships that are hidden from the managers, the designers, and the researchers due to the aforementioned complexity are revealed through the use of matrices. This mapping can supplement the decision making of the managers and the designers. The application showed advantages in modeling with fewer inputs, mainly in pre-design evaluations.

Preventing the spread of COVID-19 through environmental design in Thai community hospitals

The unprecedented outbreak of COVID-19 has had a tremendous negative impact on healthcare facilities, especially public hospitals. Thai community hospitals serve as primary care for COVID-19 patients. However, many hospital buildings were constructed in the 1990s and are now becoming outdated. Community hospitals faced many difficulties during the Thailand COVID-19 outbreak. To identify these difficulties this study focused on the physical settings of the community hospital’s outpatient departments (OPD) between 2020 and 2021. Furthermore, the study provided design suggestions for preventing the spread of respiratory infectious diseases. The study used a three-step process of data collection. The first was to observe the physical settings of the OPD buildings of the three hospitals. Secondly, interviews were conducted with thirty healthcare employees: 11 from the first hospital, 11 from the second hospital and 8 from the third hospital. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using content analysis. Subsequently, the architectural design was produced based on observation and interview analysis. In the third step, the same thirty participants evaluated the architectural design through a focus group. Findings from the interviews led to four themes: 1) factors leading to the accumulation of pathogens, 2) measures for preventing the spread of respiratory diseases, 3) the effect of patient numbers on virus transmission, and 4) suggestions for improving the physical setting of OPDs. The analysis of the four themes led to the preliminary design recommendation, which was evaluated through a focus group, leading to suggestions for the improvement of thirteen areas. The analysis results showed that the participants were satisfied with the architectural design with additional minor recommendations. This study provided originality for the implementation and future development of hospital layout designs that can prevent the spread of COVID-19 throughout Thai community hospitals. Copyright © 2022 Waroonkun and Prugsiganont.

Study workplace space occupancy: a review of measures and technologies

Purpose>The purpose of this paper is to review the use of technologies for measuring space occupancy to guide the selection of appropriate tools for workplace post-occupancy evaluation (POE) studies. The authors focus on how actual space occupancy was measured in previous studies and the pros and cons of the different technologies and tools. This paper also addresses research gaps and directions for future research.Design/methodology/approach>The space occupancy measures/tools are categorized based on the three types of technologies: environmental/ambient sensors, wearable sensors/smartphones and computer vision. A total of 50 studies are reviewed to identify the capabilities and limitations of these measurements.Findings>Based on review results, the authors propose that although sensor technology can be a useful addition to the measures/tools list, a comprehensive review of the research goal, the occupants' behavior, and the environmental settings' characteristics should be conducted beforehand. Selecting appropriate technology is critical for collecting the proper behavioral data type, with a lower level of surveillance and increased validity.Originality/value>This paper urges critical thinking about existing occupancy measures/tools across various fields, to inform the adoption and creation of new building occupancy measures. The knowledge of emerging sensor technology allows researchers to better study the temporal patterns of occupant behavior over extended periods and in a wide range of settings.

An Empirical Analysis of the Residential Satisfaction among Public Housing for the Elderly with Seniors Welfare Center-Focused Panel data in Case of the Public Housing for the Elderly in Suwon City Gwanggyo

This study aims to examine the difference of the influencing factors on the Residential Satisfaction among Public Housing for the Elderly with Seniors Welfare Center Before and after COVID-19. Also this study used multiple regression and a paired difference analysis by using 80 persons panel data as an empirical study by Post Occupancy Evaluation for 2 years. The research results revealed several features. First, the satisfaction of ‘unit design’ variables increased and the satisfaction of ‘Community Service Facilities’ variables decreased after COVID-19. Second, there are no significant differences on the satisfaction of ‘Management’ variables among programs, the satisfaction of ‘expenses’ variables decreased and the satisfaction of ‘Social Activities’ variables increased after COVID19 on the contrary. Third. there are significant differences in unit design factor, expenses factor, Social Activities factor and accessibility on the Residential Satisfaction among Public Housing for the Elderly with Seniors Welfare Center after COVID-19. The ‘Defect Repair’ and ‘Kindness Of Employee’ variables on management factor and The ‘Pubic Sports Facilities’ and ‘Performing Arts Facilities’ variables on Neighborhood Facilities factor are important regardless of COVID 19. Last, the most inflencial factor on the Residential Satisfaction among Public Housing for the Elderly with Seniors Welfare Center is ‘unit design’ factor and second is ‘Social Activities’ factor. © 2021 Architectural Institute of Korea.

Impacts of the COVID-19 lockdown on building energy consumption and indoor environment: A case study in Dalian, China.

Restricting social distancing is an effective means of controlling the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in a sharp drop in the utilization of commercial buildings. However, the specific changes in the operating parameters are not clear. This study aims to quantify the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on commercial building energy consumption and the indoor environment, including correlation analysis. A large green commercial building in Dalian, China's only country to experience five lockdowns, has been chosen. We compared the performance during the lockdown to the same period last year. The study found that the first lockdown caused a maximum 63.5% drop in monthly energy consumption, and the second lockdown was 55.2%. The energy consumption per unit area in 2020 dropped by 55.4% compared with 2019. In addition, during the lockdown, the compliance rate of indoor thermal environment increased by 34.7%, and indoor air quality was 9.5%. These findings could partly explain the short-term and far-reaching effects of the lockdown on the operating parameters of large commercial buildings. Humans are likely to coexist with COVID-19 for a long time, and commercial buildings have to adapt to new energy and health demands. Effective management strategies need to be developed.

Supervised learning-based assessment of office layout satisfaction in academic buildings

Employee satisfaction significantly affects health, well-being and productivity, and office layout plays a dominant role in office psychological satisfaction. However, existing studies have not yet proposed a quantitative evaluation method for office layout satisfaction to assist design decisions. This study conducts a post-occupancy evaluation (POE) process of office layout satisfaction from 1,317 staff members at 3 universities in the Yangtze River Delta, China. The proposed office layout feature network supports the questionnaire design and environmental measurement. Based on the survey data, multiple resampling methods are considered to face the imbalanced dataset problem, and feature selection integrates statistical analysis methods and machine learning algorithms. Nine supervised learning algorithms are tested for office layout satisfaction prediction, and the final predictive model is established based on the random forest algorithm. The predictive model explanation is further integrated with original data analysis to extract the quantified impacts of various building characteristics. The workstation adjustment under the background of COVID-19 in an actual staff office is chosen to be an application scenario of the predictive model. The results show that the workstation distance, room depth and room width-depth ratio are dominant in the evaluation of office layout satisfaction. The proposed predictive model achieves 64.5% accuracy, and the prediction results are interpretable, which promotes its application in office design practice. The data processing methods in this study respond to the common data problems in the POE based opinion collection process. The extracted influence mechanisms of building characteristics can directly support user-centered office design.