Assessment of school buildings’ physical conditions and indoor environmental quality in relation to teachers’ satisfaction and well-being
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Date
2018-08-17
Authors
Sadick, Abdul-Manan
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Abstract
Building indoor spaces are enclosed by elements including walls, windows, and floors; however, the physical conditions of these elements are not assessed in indoor environmental quality (IEQ) studies. IEQ field observations have focused on recording the presence of elements like operable windows and building characteristics like floor finish type. Additionally, existing building condition assessment instruments were not conceptualized with IEQ enhancement as a prime objective. Most IEQ studies have restricted the definition of occupants’ well-being to IEQ satisfaction while existing well-being measures in the social sciences literature are generally context-free and would likely exclude well-being dimensions unique to teachers in school context. Therefore, there is limited evidence on how physical conditions of building elements influence indoor environments and subsequently building occupants especially teachers in school context given that most IEQ studies in schools have centered on students. This two-stage research, conducted in 32 schools in southeastern Manitoba province, assessed the impact of school buildings’ physical and indoor environmental conditions on teachers’ IEQ satisfaction and well-being. Stage one focused on developing an IEQ-related building condition assessment instrument to assess physical conditions of classroom space envelope elements, and an IEQ field measurement protocol for schools. Additionally, an existing IEQ satisfaction survey was adapted for teachers, and preliminary surveys developed for assessing teachers’ well-being in school context only. Stage two included conducting IEQ-related building condition assessments and IEQ field measurements in 10 of the 32 schools. Additionally, the adapted IEQ satisfaction survey and the preliminary well-being surveys were administered to teachers in all 32 schools. The results suggested that physical conditions of space enclosing elements were likely to influence classroom environments and teachers. For example, low and high concentrations of particulate matter were likely to have negative and positive effects respectively on teachers’ IEQ satisfaction based on IEQ-related openings defects. No statistically significant direct impact of schools’ indoor environment on teachers’ well-being was found; however, an indirect impact was suggested through their IEQ satisfaction. Findings of this exploratory research would contribute to developing school buildings’ operation and maintenance strategies with enhancement of occupants’ satisfaction and well-being as a prime objective.
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Keywords
Building condition assessment, Indoor environmental quality, School buildings, Occupants' satisfaction, Occupants' well-being