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Buildings
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Indoor Environmental Quality and Human Wellbeing
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Indoor Environmental Quality and Human Wellbeing

A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Building Energy, Physics, Environment, and Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 July 2024 | Viewed by 3323

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Chenqiu Du

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Civil Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
Interests: indoor environment; human thermal comfort/health

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

When developing buildings with occupants’ wellbeing in mind, human-factor-engineering-based indoor environment creation is an important measure to improve the living environment and implement green and high-quality development for low-carbon buildings. Given various factors exist to affect the indoor environmental quality, including the thermal environment, indoor air quality, lighting, and acoustic environments, the coupled effects and their interactions with users play an important role for building design and control, which requires handling large amounts of information and knowledge in this field. In such a case, improving our understanding of the indoor environmental quality and their relations with human comfort, health, and work efficiency is worth exploring. Respond to the “people-oriented” development concept and the carbon neutralization goal in a global context can be simultaneous.

The main aim of this Special Issue is to explore the recent challenges and developments of environmental quality and human comfort/health in buildings. Topics include but are not limited to:

  • Thermal comfort/thermal adaption/outdoor thermal comfort;
  • Personal comfort system;
  • Machine learning on thermal comfort prediction;
  • Radiant/local heating‒cooling terminal;
  • Indoor pollutant exposure and health;
  • Moisture and mold in buildings;
  • Dynamic lighting;
  • Non-visual lighting and work efficiency;
  • Comfort soundscape.

Dr. Chenqiu Du
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Buildings is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • thermal comfort
  • indoor air quality
  • dynamic lighting
  • machine learning
  • building moisture

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 3780 KiB  
Article
Impacts of Static Lighting in Confined Spaces on the Circadian Parameters, Alertness, Performance and Well-Being
by Tongyue Wang, Rongdi Shao, Yanni Wang, Juanjie Li and Luoxi Hao
Buildings 2024, 14(4), 1115; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14041115 - 16 Apr 2024
Viewed by 292
Abstract
The static lighting condition (SLC) in confined spaces may pose great challenges to the health of long-stay workers, inducing sleep disorders, cognitive decline, and negative emotions such as depression or anxiety. To explore human responses to the SLC (300 lx and 6000 K), [...] Read more.
The static lighting condition (SLC) in confined spaces may pose great challenges to the health of long-stay workers, inducing sleep disorders, cognitive decline, and negative emotions such as depression or anxiety. To explore human responses to the SLC (300 lx and 6000 K), 20 young subjects (22.6 ± 1.88 years old) were recruited in the underground confined lab for a week by measuring melatonin, core body temperature (CBT), subjective alertness (KSS score), sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, PSQI), Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT), Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) and Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS). The results showed a posterior shift in circadian rhythm after 1 week of confinement, with 0.62 h delay of dim light melatonin onset (DLMO), higher melatonin concentrations in the evening, lower melatonin concentrations at midnight, a day-by-day increase in KSS and CBT at bedtime, but this decreased daily when waking up, with cumulative effects. There was a progressive increase in sleep latency, PSQI scores, response time and scores of subjective emotion scales, meaning worse sleep, performance and emotional state. Due to limited exposure to high-lighting stimuli during the daytime, the initial concentrations of melatonin increased in the evening and decreased before sleep. In confined spaces, active health interventions by dynamic lighting patterns were proposed to safeguard human health and performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Indoor Environmental Quality and Human Wellbeing)
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26 pages, 6042 KiB  
Article
Acoustic Ambience and Simulation of the Bullring of Ronda (Spain)
by Manuel Martín-Castizo, Sara Girón and Miguel Galindo
Buildings 2024, 14(1), 298; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14010298 - 22 Jan 2024
Viewed by 597
Abstract
The bullring of Ronda, one of the oldest in Spain, declared in 1993 as an Asset of Cultural Interest, occupies a paramount place among the buildings of its type thanks to its outstanding beauty. Its configuration as an open-air enclosure with a circular [...] Read more.
The bullring of Ronda, one of the oldest in Spain, declared in 1993 as an Asset of Cultural Interest, occupies a paramount place among the buildings of its type thanks to its outstanding beauty. Its configuration as an open-air enclosure with a circular floor plan, as an evocation of the ancient Roman amphitheaters, and its interior with galleries on two levels that house the audience play a fundamental role in the acoustic energy decay and diffusion of the space. The link between architecture and acoustics of the Ronda bullring has been carried out by using on-site measurements and simulation techniques. To this end, an acoustic model is created, which is adjusted by taking the set of 3D impulse responses recorded on-site. The presence of the public and the various sound sources that exist during the bullfight itself are analyzed in the simulations, whereby the conditions of occupation and vacancy are compared, as are the variations due to the location of the sources. Finally, speech intelligibility conditions are simulated with a human directivity source. The precision of the virtual acoustic model enables the sound architecture of this singular space to be ascertained and preserved, thereby incorporating sound as an associated intangible heritage. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Indoor Environmental Quality and Human Wellbeing)
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21 pages, 3100 KiB  
Article
A Predictive Model for the Growth Diameter of Mold under Different Temperatures and Relative Humidities in Indoor Environments
by Chenyang Wang, Yong Mei, Heqi Wang, Xinzhu Guo, Ting Yang, Chenqiu Du and Wei Yu
Buildings 2024, 14(1), 215; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14010215 - 13 Jan 2024
Viewed by 1042
Abstract
A substantial body of evidence suggests that indoor mold exposure is a cause of allergic and respiratory diseases in humans. While models exist for assessing the risk of mold growth on building materials, few study the characteristics of mold growth after germination. This [...] Read more.
A substantial body of evidence suggests that indoor mold exposure is a cause of allergic and respiratory diseases in humans. While models exist for assessing the risk of mold growth on building materials, few study the characteristics of mold growth after germination. This study conducted mold growth experiments in a constant temperature chamber, using four temperature settings of 15, 20, 25 and 30 °C, and three relative humidities of 56 to 61%, 75 to 76% and 83 to 86%. A mold growth prediction model was established using temperature and relative humidity. The accuracy of the model was verified by comparing the sampling and the predicted values in a laboratory environment. The results indicated that reducing the environmental temperature and relative humidity could significantly inhibit the growth of mold, although the inhibitory effects varied. Temperature might play a more critical role. At higher temperatures (25 °C and 30 °C), the growth rate and lag time of mold tended to be consistent and there were differences in the maximum diameter. In the predictive model, the polynomial secondary model for the maximum growth rate and lag time and the Arrhenius–Davey secondary model for the maximum diameter (A) had good predictive effects (Adj.R2 > 0.850). It is speculated that temperature is the key factor affecting the maximum growth diameter of mold. The mold growth prediction model could better predict the growth of mold in actual environments without wind Adj.R2 > 0.800), but the accuracy of the model decreased under windy conditions (wind velocity < 1 m/s). The mold growth predictive model we established could be used to predict the growth characteristics of mold in windless environments. It also provides control suggestions for the regulation of temperature and relative humidity in indoor environments, supporting indoor thermal environment management and pollutant control, and ensuring indoor human health. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Indoor Environmental Quality and Human Wellbeing)
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22 pages, 1140 KiB  
Article
The Association between Perceived Housing Environment and Health and Satisfaction among the Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey in Northern China
by Fang Liu, Yafei Li, Xuezhi Gao and Jiangtao Du
Buildings 2023, 13(11), 2875; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13112875 - 16 Nov 2023
Viewed by 930
Abstract
China lacks design strategies to improve home-based care environments for its older adults. This study investigated the perception of indoor environmental quality in housing environments and analyzed its impact on health and satisfaction among home-living older adults. A cross-sectional survey in Northern China [...] Read more.
China lacks design strategies to improve home-based care environments for its older adults. This study investigated the perception of indoor environmental quality in housing environments and analyzed its impact on health and satisfaction among home-living older adults. A cross-sectional survey in Northern China was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic (October 2021–March 2022) to test the effects of five housing environmental factors on home-living older adults’ health and satisfaction, including noise, lighting and view, temperature and humidity, air quality, and maintenance and cleanliness. A total of 356 home-living adults aged 60 years and older participated in the survey. The 12-item Short Form Health Survey was used to measure health-related quality of life among respondents. Using multiple regression analyses, we found that overall satisfaction can be positively predicted by four housing environmental qualities: lighting and view, temperature and humidity, air quality, and maintenance and cleanliness. Air quality was found to be a predictor of respondents’ physical health. Only noise had a significant predictive effect on respondents’ mental health. Age, marital status, and health status (cardiovascular and chronic diseases) were significantly correlated with the physical health of the respondents, whereas educational status, monthly income, and alcohol consumption could predict their mental health. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Indoor Environmental Quality and Human Wellbeing)
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