Effective Environmental Factors on Efficiency of Office Buildings Staff in a Cold Semi-Arid Climate (Case Study: Kermanshah)

Abstract

Human beings spend most of their time in indoor environments. A large part of people around the world work and live in urban areas. Economic productivity is an important goal of different buildings, especially office buildings. Various factors play a role in economic productivity, including reducing energy consumption, managerial programs, and increasing the personnel's efficacy. Increasing attention to efficiency see day by day. Efficiency is a dependent variable i.e., it depends on the individual, environmental, and work conditions. In recent years, most offices pay attention to indoor environmental quality. Because the cost of hiring staff is higher than the cost of operating and maintaining a building. Thus, spending on improving the workplace is the most effective strategy to improve efficiency. This research seeks to study the effective factors on the efficiency of the employees through field studies. Environmental measurements of temperature, humidity, and carbon dioxide were measured in office buildings (from February 4, 2012, to March 5, 2012). Physical measurements showed that, as these parameters increased, efficiency decreased.Then employees fill out the questionnaires (N=328) in the offices of Kermanshah city. An indoor environment is effective for public health. Having healthy indoor environments is a definite right of people. The results of this research showed that satisfaction with the thermal condition, thermal comfort, optimal thermal condition, suitable workplace, and high quality of the workplace are factors influencing efficiency. Providing desired thermal conditions and increasing the quality of the workplace have the highest and lowest effects on the efficiency of employees.