Evaluation of Overall Comfort in Hospitals in Summer using Various Comforts Related Factors

Abstract

A hospital is a complex building with spaces that serve many different purposes and healthy and comfortable indoor environment in a hospital has a major effect on patient well-being as well as on the work efficiency of the hospital staff. Although thermal comfort is one major factor in indoor comfort, noise, lights and air quality are also important for overall comfort. The purpose of this study was to assess the applicability of the overall indoor environmental quality (IEQ) acceptance model for evaluating indoor environmental comfort in hospitals. Various indoor environmental conditions were measured in two general hospitals during summer 2014 (June–September). Each hospital was measured for 1 month, after which the monitoring instruments were moved to the other hospital also for 1 month. The indoor air temperature, relative humidity (RH), mean radiant temperature and air velocity were measured to calculate the predicted mean vote (PMV), which estimates patient comfort. Carbon dioxide concentration, noise level and illuminance level were measured at the same time. The overall IEQ acceptance model for an office environment was applied to evaluate the overall indoor comfort in hospitals. The PMV values varied among places within the hospital buildings. The most comfortable place in hospital A was the emergency room and the least comfortable was the health-screening center. In hospital B, the injection room was the most comfortable thermally and the waiting room was the least comfortable. The lobby and waiting room showed the greatest fluctuation in daily PMV, whereas PMV values in the emergency room and nurse station were relatively consistent compared to other places. The overall IEQ acceptance evaluation showed that indoor air quality and acoustic environment were highly satisfactory, whereas the visual environment was not. A new proposed IEQ acceptance model with adjusted illuminance guidelines was proposed for hospital environments. The indoor thermal comfort was combined with indoor air, noise and illuminance to evaluate the overall comfort level in the hospitals. The two hospitals studied were comfortable in terms of temperature, noise and indoor air, but not in terms of illuminance. Adjusting the standard for illuminance in the IEQ acceptance model may be necessary when applied to hospital environments.