Wellbuilt for wellbeing: Controlling relative humidity in the workplace matters for our health.

This study offers a new perspective on the role of relative humidity in strategies to improve the health and wellbeing of office workers. A lack of studies of sufficient participant size and diversity relating relative humidity (RH) to measured health outcomes has been a driving factor in relaxing thermal comfort standards for RH and removing a lower limit for dry air. We examined the association between RH and objectively measured stress responses, physical activity (PA), and sleep quality. A diverse group of office workers (n = 134) from four well-functioning federal buildings wore chest-mounted heart rate variability monitors for three consecutive days, while at the same time, RH and temperature (T) were measured in their workplaces. Those who spent the majority of their time at the office in conditions of 30%-60% RH experienced 25% less stress at the office than those who spent the majority of their time in drier conditions. Further, a correlational study of our stress response suggests optimal values for RH may exist within an even narrower range around 45%. Finally, we found an indirect effect of objectively measured poorer sleep quality, mediated by stress responses, for those outside this range.

Effects of office workstation type on physical activity and stress.

OBJECTIVE: Office environments have been causally linked to workplace-related illnesses and stress, yet little is known about how office workstation type is linked to objective metrics of physical activity and stress. We aimed to explore these associations among office workers in US federal office buildings. METHODS: We conducted a wearable, sensor-based, observational study of 231 workers in four office buildings. Outcome variables included workers' physiological stress response, physical activity and perceived stress. Relationships between office workstation type and these variables were assessed using structural equation modelling. RESULTS: Workers in open bench seating were more active at the office than those in private offices and cubicles (open bench seating vs private office=225.52 mG (31.83% higher on average) (95% CI 136.57 to 314.46); open bench seating vs cubicle=185.13 mG (20.16% higher on average) (95% CI 66.53 to 303.72)). Furthermore, workers in open bench seating experienced lower perceived stress at the office than those in cubicles (-0.27 (9.10% lower on average) (95% CI -0.54 to -0.02)). Finally, higher physical activity at the office was related to lower physiological stress (higher heart rate variability in the time domain) outside the office (-26.12 ms/mG (14.18% higher on average) (95% CI -40.48 to -4.16)). CONCLUSIONS: Office workstation type was related to enhanced physical activity and reduced physiological and perceived stress. This research highlights how office design, driven by office workstation type, could be a health-promoting factor.

Discovery of associative patterns between workplace sound level and physiological wellbeing using wearable devices and empirical Bayes modeling.

We conducted a field study using multiple wearable devices on 231 federal office workers to assess the impact of the indoor environment on individual wellbeing. Past research has established that the workplace environment is closely tied to an individual's wellbeing. Since sound is the most-reported environmental factor causing stress and discomfort, we focus on quantifying its association with physiological wellbeing. Physiological wellbeing is represented as a latent variable in an empirical Bayes model with heart rate variability measures-SDNN and normalized-HF as the observed outcomes and with exogenous factors including sound level as inputs. We find that an individual's physiological wellbeing is optimal when sound level in the workplace is at 50 dBA. At lower (<50dBA) and higher (>50dBA) amplitude ranges, a 10 dBA increase in sound level is related to a 5.4% increase and 1.9% decrease in physiological wellbeing respectively. Age, body-mass-index, high blood pressure, anxiety, and computer use intensive work are person-level factors contributing to heterogeneity in the sound-wellbeing association.

Effect of Workstation Type on the Relationship Between Fatigue, Physical Activity, Stress, and Sleep.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined office workstation types' impact on the relationship between fatigue and three health metrics: physical activity, stress, and sleep quality. METHODS: Data from 225 office workers were collected for perceived fatigue, perceived sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI]), physiological stress response (standard deviation of heart rate variability [HRV]), and physical activity (total activity in minutes) during three consecutive workdays. Stress and physical activity were measured using chest-worn sensors. Workers were then categorized as tired or not-tired based on the median of the fatigue rating. RESULTS: Among tired workers, open-bench seating workers had increased physical activity, improved sleep quality, and reduced stress compared with workers in private offices and cubicles. CONCLUSIONS: Office workstation types influence physical activity and levels of stress during work hours, which in turn affect sleep quality.

Personal CO2 cloud: laboratory measurements of metabolic CO2 inhalation zone concentration and dispersion in a typical office desk setting.

Inhalation exposure to pure and metabolic elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration has been associated with impaired work performance, lower perceived air quality, and increased health symptoms. In this study, the concentration of metabolic CO2 was continuously measured in the inhalation zone of 41 subjects performing simulated office work. The measurements took place in an environmental chamber with well-controlled mechanical ventilation arranged as an office environment. The results showed the existence of a personal CO2 cloud in the inhalation zone of all test subjects, characterized by the excess of metabolic CO2 beyond the room background levels. For seated occupants, the median CO2 inhalation zone concentration levels were between 200 and 500 ppm above the background, and the third quartile up to 800 ppm above the background. Each study subject had distinct magnitude of the personal CO2 cloud owing to differences in metabolic CO2 generation, posture, nose geometry, and breathing pattern. A small desktop oscillating fan proved to be suitable for dispersing much of the personal CO2 cloud, thus reducing the inhalation zone concentration to background level. The results suggest that background measurements cannot capture the significant personal CO2 cloud effect in human microclimate.