Shahzad, S.S., Brennan, J., Theodossopoulos, D. et al. (2 more authors) (2015) Energy Efficiency and User Comfort in the Workplace: Norwegian Cellular vs. British Open Plan Workplaces. In: Energy Procedia. The 7th International Conference on Applied Energy – ICAE2015, 28-31 Mar 2015, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Elsevier , pp. 807-812.
Abstract
Two office layouts with high and low levels of thermal control were compared, respectively Norwegian cellular and British open plan offices. The Norwegian practice provided every user with control over a window, blinds, door, and the ability to adjust heating and cooling. Occupants were expected to control their thermal environment to find their own comfort, while air conditioning was operatingin the background to ensure the indoor air quality. In contrast, in the British office, limited thermal control was provided through openable windows and blinds only for occupants seated around the perimeter of the building. Centrally operated displacement ventilation was the main thermal control system. Users' perception of thermal environment was recorded through survey questionnaires, empirical building performance through environmental measurements and thermal control through semi-structured interviews. The Norwegian office had35% higher user satisfaction and 20% higher user comfort compared to the British open plan office. However, the energy consumption in the British practice was within the benchmark and much lower than the Norwegian office. Overall, a balance between thermal comfort and energy efficiency is required, as either extreme poses difficulties for the other.
Metadata
Item Type: | Proceedings Paper |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2015 Published by Elsevier. This is an open access conference paper under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | Thermal comfort; energy; individual control; workplace; cellular plan; open plan office |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Civil Engineering (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 04 Jun 2025 13:18 |
Last Modified: | 04 Jun 2025 13:53 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.egypro.2015.07.135 |
Sustainable Development Goals: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:227368 |