INFLUENCE OF PERSONAL COMFORT SYSTEMS OPERABILITY ON THERMAL COMFORT AND WORKPLACE PRODUCTIVITY

Abstract

In recent years, the number of offices introducing personal comfort systems (PCS) has increased. However, in some offices, the complexity of the PCS operation, caused by sophistication, discourages workers from using the PCS. Considering this background, this study aims to investigate the influence of the PCS operability on their usage rate, thermal environment evaluation and workplace productivity. A measurement survey was conducted with three types of PCS with the same performance but different operational types. As a result, the PCS operability evaluation was significantly correlated with PCS usage rate, thermal environment evaluation and workplace productivity.