Evaluation of Environmental Comfort Parameters of Workspace in Industrial Buildings Case Study: typical control building of combined cycle power plants

The conditions of indoor environmental parameters have far-reaching implications for people health, general well-being and performance. In the process of environmental design of any construction project, several parameters are taken into consideration. One of the influential parameters in design is the physical and spiritual characteristics whose amount of contribution in the physical or architectural environment of buildings varies with their type of buildings. Due to the superiority of functional requirements of equipment and systems over human requirements in the field of architectural and environmental design of industrial buildings, users have to adapt themselves to the conditions which might be followed by imposed biological and psychological pressures. Since control room plays an important role in operating normally and facing accidents and their consequences in every power plant, it acts as the brain. Providing environmental comfort to control room staff significantly prevents man-made disasters from happening in power plants. In this regardæ the present study examines the components and environmental parameters influenced by building features (thermal comfort, lighting quality, office layout, interior decoration, acoustic quality, air quality, cleanliness and maintenance) in typical control building of combined cycle power plants. Using a questionnaire based on Vischer’s model of environmental comfort regarding people’s environmental perception (the model that is used by Center for the Built Environment, University of California, Burkeley), the level of users’ satisfaction with the environmental factors and their self-estimated performance in relation to these factors at the two levels of physical and functional comforts has been determined. The statistical analysis of the results shows that the lack of consideration of the environmental comfort parameters of workspace in the process of architectural design of industrial buildings influences users’ satisfaction with these factors which is directly related to their self-estimated performance in workplace and consequently their job satisfaction by decreasing them. Of the environmental factors, only the component “ease of interaction with co-workers” as a result of the type of design provided satisfaction.The scores given by the personnel based on the level of dissatisfaction factors from the highest to lowest one are as follows:
Office furnishing (-2.28), ability to adjust furniture to meet the needs (-1.78),sound privacy (-1.67), air quality in the workspace ( -1.56 ), colors and textures of flooring, furniture and surface finishes ( -1.50 ), noise level ( -1.50 ) , general cleanliness of the overall building (-1.39), visual comfort of the lighting ( -1.33 ), temperature in workspace ( -1.11 ), level of visual privacy (-1.00), amount of space available for individual work and storage ( -0.94 ), general maintenance of the building ( -0.83 ), cleaning service provided to workspace ( -0.67 ), general specifications of the building( -0.67 ), amount of light in workspace( -0.56 ). Finally, using the results of the questionnaire analysis, the parameters have been prioritized in order to take corrective measures. By assessing the level of space occupants’ satisfaction the environmental factors and evaluating the impact of these factors on their self-estimated performance, the corrective potential of different factors with the approach of the enhancement of personnel’s performance has been determined. The results of this study primarily represent the building conditions to operations managers and secondly guide them in decision-makings about taking corrective measures using interior design professional experts in different factors.