Correlations between SBS, perceived comfort, energy use and other building characteristics in european office and residential buildings

Within the European research project HOPE, 67 office buildings and 97 residential ones were investigated using checklists addressing the building characteristics and questionnaires to the occupants asking their perceived comfort (thermal visual, acoustical and IAQ) and health (SBS and allergies). The collected data are compared looking for correlations between building characteristics on one hand, and perceived comfort and health on the other hand. Strong correlations are found between perceived indoor air quality, thermal, acoustic and lighting comfort, confirming results from other studies. Significant correlations between the perceived comfort and building related symptoms were also found, comfortable buildings being healthier than uncomfortable ones. Differences of perceived comfort or health between low- and high- energy buildings show that it is possible to design buildings that are healthy, comfortable and energy efficient.