Human Factors in Green Office Building Design: The Impact of Workplace Green Features on Health Perceptions in High-Rise High-Density Asian Cities

Fei Xue, Zhonghua Gou and Stephen Siu Yu Lau
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Fei Xue: School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Rd., Singapore 117566, Singapore
Zhonghua Gou: Cities Research Centre, School of Environment, Griffith University, Parklands Drive, Southport, Gold Coast, QLD 4215, Australia
Stephen Siu Yu Lau: School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Rd., Singapore 117566, Singapore

Sustainability, 2016, vol. 8, issue 11, 1-16

Abstract: There is a growing concern about human factors in green building, which is imperative in high-rise high-density urban environments. This paper describes our attempts to explore the influence of workplace green features (such as green certification, ventilation mode, and building morphology) on health perceptions (personal sensation, sensorial assumptions, healing performance) based on a survey in Hong Kong and Singapore. The results validated the relationship between green features and health perceptions in the workplace environment. Remarkably, participants from the air-conditioned offices revealed significant higher concerns about health issues than those participants from the mixed-ventilated offices. The mixed-ventilation design performs as a bridge to connect the indoor environment and outdoor space, which enables people to have contact with nature. Additionally, the preferred building morphology of the workplace is the pattern of a building complex instead of a single building. The complex form integrates the configuration of courtyards, podium gardens, green terrace, public plaza, and other types of open spaces with the building clusters, which contributes to better health perceptions. This research contributes to the rationalization and optimization of passive climate-adaptive design strategies for green buildings in high-density tropical or subtropical cities.

Keywords: green building; workplace; human factors; health and well-being; high-density cities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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