A state-of-the-art, systematic review of indoor environmental quality studies in work-from-home settings

Sanyogita Manu; Tobias Maria Burgholz; Fatemeh Nabilou; Kai Rewitz; Mahmoud El-Mokadem; Manuj Yadav; Giorgia Chinazzo; Ricardo Forgiarini Rupp; Elie Azar; Marc Syndicus; Abdul Manan Sadick; Marcel Schweiker; Sarah Crosby; Meng Kong; Donna Vakalis; Adam Rysanek; Dirk Müller; Janina Fels; Christoph van Treeck; Jérôme Frisch; Rania Christoforou

doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2024.111652

A state-of-the-art, systematic review of indoor environmental quality studies in work-from-home settings

Sanyogita Manu, Tobias Maria Burgholz, Fatemeh Nabilou, Kai Rewitz, Mahmoud El-Mokadem, Manuj Yadav, Giorgia Chinazzo, Ricardo Forgiarini Rupp, Elie Azar, Marc Syndicus, Abdul Manan Sadick, Marcel Schweiker, Sarah Crosby, Meng Kong, Donna Vakalis, Adam Rysanek, Dirk Müller, Janina Fels, Christoph van Treeck, Jérôme FrischRania Christoforou^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a significant increase in working from home worldwide, making the work-from-home (WFH) setting a crucial context for studying the influence of indoor environmental quality (IEQ) on workers’ well-being and productivity. A narrative and visual synthesis of 41 research articles on IEQ in WFH settings was conducted to identify the IEQ factors being measured and their correlations with perceived productivity and well-being. This review shows that the IEQ conditions at home were mainly within the recommended international standards. However, some high maxima were recorded, particularly for metrics related to quality of indoor air partly due to wider availability of evidence, which raised concerns regarding the suitability of indoor conditions while working from home. Despite the presence of these high maxima, workers generally rated all environmental factors highly. This could possibly reflect their lack of awareness of changes in environmental conditions, suggesting that monitoring environmental conditions might be necessary when working from home. Compared with traditional offices, workers seemed to be more satisfied with the environmental conditions at home although some WFH settings were found to be deficient in sound insulation, ergonomic and technological support, leading to multiple health complaints. Several studies have also demonstrated significant correlations between assessments of IEQ and ergonomics and those of productivity, physical and mental well-being. Future IEQ studies in WFH settings should consider using a longitudinal study design and including more representative samples, different seasons, multi-domain analyses, and multicountry and multicultural settings.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	111652
Journal	Building and Environment
Volume	259
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2024.111652
State	Published - Jul 1 2024

Funding

This work was conducted within the framework of IEA-EBC Annex 79 \u2018Occupant-Centric Building Design and Operation\u2019 ( https://annex79.iea-ebc.org/ ). Fatemeh Nabilou, Kai Rewitz, Dirk M\u00FCller, Mahmoud El-Mokadem, Manuj Yadav, Marcel Schweiker, Marc Syndicus, Rania Christoforou, Tobias Maria Burgholz, Janina Fels, Christoph van Treeck, and J\u00E9r\u00F4me Frisch would like to acknowledge the donation from Heinz Trox Wissenschafts gGmbH (grant no. HTx0028) for supporting their contributions. Kai Rewitz, Mahmoud El-Mokadem, and Dirk M\u00FCller were also supported by a research grant from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (grant no. 03EI5228A). Marcel Schweiker and Rania Christoforou were also supported by a research grant (grant no. 21055) from VILLUM FONDEN and by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (grant no. 03EI5228C). This work was conducted within the framework of IEA-EBC Annex 79 \u2018Occupant-Centric Building Design and Operation\u2019 (https://annex79.iea-ebc.org/). Fatemeh Nabilou, Kai Rewitz, Dirk M\u00FCller, Mahmoud El-Mokadem, Manuj Yadav, Marcel Schweiker, Marc Syndicus, Rania Christoforou, Tobias Maria Burgholz, Janina Fels, Christoph van Treeck, and J\u00E9r\u00F4me Frisch would like to acknowledge the donation from Heinz Trox Wissenschafts gGmbH (grant no. HTx0028) for supporting their contributions. Kai Rewitz, Mahmoud El-Mokadem, and Dirk M\u00FCller were also supported by a research grant from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (grant no. 03EI5228A). Marcel Schweiker and Rania Christoforou were also supported by a research grant (grant no. 21055) from VILLUM FONDEN and by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (grant no. 03EI5228C). Manuj Yadav was also supported by a DFG (German Research Foundation) grant (grant no. 503914237).

Keywords

Acoustics
Indoor air quality
Productivity
Thermal
Visual
Well-being

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Environmental Engineering
Civil and Structural Engineering
Geography, Planning and Development
Building and Construction

Access to Document

10.1016/j.buildenv.2024.111652

Cite this

Manu, S., Burgholz, T. M., Nabilou, F., Rewitz, K., El-Mokadem, M., Yadav, M., Chinazzo, G., Forgiarini Rupp, R., Azar, E., Syndicus, M., Sadick, A. M., Schweiker, M., Crosby, S., Kong, M., Vakalis, D., Rysanek, A., Müller, D., Fels, J., van Treeck, C., ... Christoforou, R. (2024). A state-of-the-art, systematic review of indoor environmental quality studies in work-from-home settings. Building and Environment, 259, Article 111652. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2024.111652

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abstract = "The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a significant increase in working from home worldwide, making the work-from-home (WFH) setting a crucial context for studying the influence of indoor environmental quality (IEQ) on workers{\textquoteright} well-being and productivity. A narrative and visual synthesis of 41 research articles on IEQ in WFH settings was conducted to identify the IEQ factors being measured and their correlations with perceived productivity and well-being. This review shows that the IEQ conditions at home were mainly within the recommended international standards. However, some high maxima were recorded, particularly for metrics related to quality of indoor air partly due to wider availability of evidence, which raised concerns regarding the suitability of indoor conditions while working from home. Despite the presence of these high maxima, workers generally rated all environmental factors highly. This could possibly reflect their lack of awareness of changes in environmental conditions, suggesting that monitoring environmental conditions might be necessary when working from home. Compared with traditional offices, workers seemed to be more satisfied with the environmental conditions at home although some WFH settings were found to be deficient in sound insulation, ergonomic and technological support, leading to multiple health complaints. Several studies have also demonstrated significant correlations between assessments of IEQ and ergonomics and those of productivity, physical and mental well-being. Future IEQ studies in WFH settings should consider using a longitudinal study design and including more representative samples, different seasons, multi-domain analyses, and multicountry and multicultural settings.",

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Manu, S, Burgholz, TM, Nabilou, F, Rewitz, K, El-Mokadem, M, Yadav, M, Chinazzo, G, Forgiarini Rupp, R, Azar, E, Syndicus, M, Sadick, AM, Schweiker, M, Crosby, S, Kong, M, Vakalis, D, Rysanek, A, Müller, D, Fels, J, van Treeck, C, Frisch, J & Christoforou, R 2024, 'A state-of-the-art, systematic review of indoor environmental quality studies in work-from-home settings', Building and Environment, vol. 259, 111652. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2024.111652

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AU - Manu, Sanyogita

AU - Burgholz, Tobias Maria

AU - Nabilou, Fatemeh

AU - Rewitz, Kai

AU - El-Mokadem, Mahmoud

AU - Yadav, Manuj

AU - Chinazzo, Giorgia

AU - Forgiarini Rupp, Ricardo

AU - Azar, Elie

AU - Syndicus, Marc

AU - Sadick, Abdul Manan

AU - Schweiker, Marcel

AU - Crosby, Sarah

AU - Kong, Meng

AU - Vakalis, Donna

AU - Rysanek, Adam

AU - Müller, Dirk

AU - Fels, Janina

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AB - The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a significant increase in working from home worldwide, making the work-from-home (WFH) setting a crucial context for studying the influence of indoor environmental quality (IEQ) on workers’ well-being and productivity. A narrative and visual synthesis of 41 research articles on IEQ in WFH settings was conducted to identify the IEQ factors being measured and their correlations with perceived productivity and well-being. This review shows that the IEQ conditions at home were mainly within the recommended international standards. However, some high maxima were recorded, particularly for metrics related to quality of indoor air partly due to wider availability of evidence, which raised concerns regarding the suitability of indoor conditions while working from home. Despite the presence of these high maxima, workers generally rated all environmental factors highly. This could possibly reflect their lack of awareness of changes in environmental conditions, suggesting that monitoring environmental conditions might be necessary when working from home. Compared with traditional offices, workers seemed to be more satisfied with the environmental conditions at home although some WFH settings were found to be deficient in sound insulation, ergonomic and technological support, leading to multiple health complaints. Several studies have also demonstrated significant correlations between assessments of IEQ and ergonomics and those of productivity, physical and mental well-being. Future IEQ studies in WFH settings should consider using a longitudinal study design and including more representative samples, different seasons, multi-domain analyses, and multicountry and multicultural settings.

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KW - Productivity

KW - Thermal

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A state-of-the-art, systematic review of indoor environmental quality studies in work-from-home settings

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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