Tracking Occupant Satisfaction for Improved Energy Efficiency in Campus Buildings

Green buildings incorporate several features to improve energy efficiency, indoor environmental conditions, and occupant satisfaction. However, studies haveindicated that green-certified buildings do not always provide occupants with an acceptable level of satisfaction. The American Society of Heating,Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) requires that at least 80% of occupants are satisfied with the indoor thermal conditions.Good indoor environmental quality (IEQ) can enhance the health and productivity of occupants. Also, buildings play a significant role in meeting ambitiousenergy savings and emissions targets in the US. Identifying gaps in operations and integrating occupant needs into building operations can improve energyperformance and occupant satisfaction. Occupant feedback surveys are beneficial for building management, commissioning, gathering end-user feedback, anddetermining occupants’ building requirements. They also help facility managers understand how the building performs and whether the occupants' needs arebeing met. This paper presents the results of an occupant feedback survey administered to occupants in green-certified and non-green certified buildings on auniversity campus in the United States. About 350 valid responses were collected through the study. Occupant feedback on IEQ parameters (i.e., thermalcomfort, lighting, air quality, and noise), occupant access to controls, and the level of importance attached to energy conservation and energy costs are presented.Occupants in green-certified buildings reported significantly increased personal productivity than those in non-certified buildings but, they do not reportsignificantly higher satisfaction with all IEQ parameters.