Occupant trust in indoor air quality in a large office building after an emergent wildfire
Journal of Facilities Management
ISSN: 1472-5967
Article publication date: 25 May 2022
Issue publication date: 14 March 2024
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to establish a reliable scale measuring occupants’ levels of environmental trust in their work settings’ indoor air quality and explore the relationship between occupants’ levels of environmental trust and their perceived control over the air quality in their workspace.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted occupant surveys concerning indoor air quality in an office building, and collected corresponding indoor air quality measurements. Descriptive statistics and correlation analysis results are reported to reveal occupants’ levels of environmental trust and perceived control.
Findings
Results reveal that psychological perceptions of indoor air quality can be quite neutral, even shortly after an extreme wildfire event resulting in very poor air quality in an urban area. Occupants’ sense of trust that their office building could protect them from harmful air outside, and their belief that the building could protect them from seasonal smoky conditions, each correlated positively with employees’ sense of control over the indoor air quality in their personal workspace.
Originality/value
This case study adds to an interdisciplinary understanding for facility managers and organizational leaders concerning a way to measure occupants’ sense of control over the indoor air quality in their building, as well as their environmental trust in terms of how protected they feel from harmful air quality conditions.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Troy Swanson and the UW Tower Facility Services team for assisting in the indoor air quality monitoring, Kim Lokan (UW IT Facility Services) and UW IT employees, as well as Michael Tinker (UW Continuum College Facilities), Bradley Biggs (UW Continuum College Facilities) and UW Continuum College employees for allowing us to access their space and for participating in the survey.
Citation
Kim, A., Wang, S., McCunn, L. and Bramono, N.T.I. (2024), "Occupant trust in indoor air quality in a large office building after an emergent wildfire", Journal of Facilities Management, Vol. 22 No. 2, pp. 181-193. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFM-11-2021-0149
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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