Assessment between indoor environmental quality aspects and productivity in buildings: a systematic literature review

Abstract

Due to changes in people's living and working patterns, studies into indoor environmental quality (IEQ) have become increasingly relevant due to their influence on people's health, comfort and, above all, productivity. By selecting studies using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA), this study carried out a literature review to identify the main models that assess people's productivity based on the four tangible aspects of IEQ (indoor air quality, thermal, acoustic and visual comfort). Three research questions were answered after using bibliometric analysis, hierarchical clustering, and meta-analysis. The main conclusions of this study are: (i) Seventy-three productivity models related to aspects of IEQ were identified, involving twenty-four different parameters, the temperature being the most recurrent one in the predictive models; (ii) The dendrogram, generated by the hierarchical clustering, formed six different groups, where parameters related to thermal comfort and indoor air quality remaining together; (iii) After analyzing the main characteristics of each model, verifying their main strengths and weaknesses, it was verified that the representativeness of the sample, climatic and cultural biases, psychosocial factors, subjective perceptions and the scope of the IEQ aspects, the data collection methodology and statistical validation are determining factors for the reliability of the models. (iv) Meta-analysis consolidated studies on the correlation of productivity models, revealing a predominance of positive correlations but with high heterogeneity (I² = 98.39 %). This suggests a publication bias, suggesting an under-representation of non-significant or negative results. The presence of this variation reflects the need to consider contextual factors when discussing IEQ aspects, which can depend on local characteristics, cultural expectations and occupants' habits.