Office workers’ stress level: The impact of IEQ, Control and Personal factors

Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) has a significant impact on office workers’ productivity levels, however, the extent to which IEQ affects general stress is understudied. This study aims to determine the impactof the physical office environment on office workers’ stress levels based on data obtained from a questionnaire. The questionnaire was developed based on the combination of Building Use Studies (BUS) method and Crisis Inventory - 93 scale which is used to evaluate physiological stress symptoms. In total, 93 occupants from 45 offices participatedin this survey. In this study, occupants’ perceptions about various aspects of comfort, their sensitivity and level of control over IEQ and also their physiological stress symptoms were questioned. For this study, an ES (Environmental Stress) score based on the occupants' vote on physiological stress in relation to IEQ was developed. The results show that the ES score is significantly affected by aggregated scale comfort dissatisfaction. Thermal comfort over the summer and air quality over the winter have the main influence on ES score. The greater usability of control over IEQ significantly correlated with a lower ES score. This study also highlights that individual sensitivity level toward the various aspects of comfort is an influential factor on stress symptoms.