A Meta-Synthesis Review of Occupant Comfort Assessment in Buildings (2002–2022)

Abstract

Occupant comfort in buildings is one of the most crucial considerations in designing a building. Accordingly, there is a growing interest in this area. Aspects of comfort include thermal comfort, visual comfort, acoustic comfort, and indoor air quality (IAQ) satisfaction. The objective of this state-of-the-art review was to provide a comprehensive, explicit, and up-to-date literature review on occupant comfort in buildings, since this issue has a great impact on the lifestyle, health, and productivity of occupants. A meta-synthesis method was also used for an analytical-interpretive review of previous studies. In this research, scientific research studies related to the subject of indoor occupant comfort in the period 2002–2022 were reviewed. Previous reviews have often covered the fundamental concepts and principles related to indoor occupant comfort. Although innumerable studies have focused on thermal comfort, other aspects of occupant comfort have not been considered. The review is analyzed and discussed in reference to type of study, case study geographical locations and climate zones, case study building types, decision-making models, assessment criteria, data-collection tools, and data analysis strategies. Finally, future research recommendations are presented. Through the review, we find that the comfort models used in research are mostly based on comfort perception votes collected from experimental studies, which may not reflect the preferences of users well. In addition, only the influence of environmental factors on the models has been investigated, and other personal factors have been ignored. This study presents a useful guide for researchers to determine their outlines for future research in this field.

Identification of Criteria for Evaluating the Location of Youth Recreation and Leisure Centers

“…[29]. Air pollution [6], [16], [9] Noise and acoustic characteristics of the external environment [6], [30], [36], [9] Weather and climate [6], [9]…”

A Multi-objective Optimization of Window and Light Shelf Design in Office Buildings to Improve Occupants’ Thermal and Visual Comfort

“…According to ISO Standard 7730:1994 [60], and ASHRAE Standard 55 [61], thermal comfort is expressed as "that condition of mind which expresses satisfaction with the thermal environment" [62,63]. The assessment of thermal comfort is influenced by various factors, such as temperature, thermal radiation, humidity, air velocity, activity level, and clothing insulation [30,64]. The Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) index that was introduced by Fanger [65,66] is applied in this research.…”

Subjective and Simulation-Based Analysis of Discomfort Glare Metrics in Office Buildings with Light Shelf Systems

“…VCP was only developed to evaluate typical sizes, such as ceilingmounted lights with uniform illumination. Therefore, it is not suitable for evaluating non-uniform illuminance or for predicting daylight glare [26,27]. 2.…”

“…CIE Glare Index (CGI): To correct the mathematical inconsistencies of the British Glare Index (BGI) for multiple glare sources, a new index was introduced, which was later accepted by the International Commission on Illumination (CIE), and called the CIE glare index [10,26,28].…”

“…Unified Glare Rating (UGR): The value of this index varies between 10 (just imperceptible) and 34 (just intolerable). Similarly to the CGI, a value of 19 is usually considered the borderline between comfortable and discomfort glare [26,33,34]. 5.…”