Survey Based Evaluation of Indoor Environment in an Administrative Military Facility

Abstract

Military facilities feature distinctive requirements with regards to building technical and structural design, material use and indoor environmental conditions (IEC), as these buildings serve specific purpose and the personnel occupying the premises may wear uniform or protective clothing (administrative staff, special forces, training personnel etc.), that can greatly affect their satisfaction level with thermal comfort and productivity.

In order to acquire data on the actual indoor environment conditions and obtain a feedback from the occupying personnel on their satisfaction level with the IEC in an administrative military building situated in a special purpose military compound, a series of IAQ measurements (temperature, humidity, CO₂ level) and a survey on indoor air quality and thermal comfort was conducted in different premises of the administrative office building. A total of 73 respondents occupying the building participated in the survey.

The results of the conducted survey revealed that there is a high degree of dissatisfaction with the IEC in military buildings, that is attributed to inadequate ventilation and overtemperature. That matched the collected indoor environmental quality (IEQ) data, forming a direct relationship between the poor energy efficiency and low satisfaction rate with IEC.

The study reiterates the need to address the poor current technical state of unclassified building stock, emphasizes the call for developing clear regulatory requirements for newly-constructed unclassified buildings and thorough feasibility assessment for renovation projects.