The Indoor Air Quality Trilemma : Improving Air Quality, Using Less Energy, and Meeting Stakeholder Requirements

Hussain, Iman and Friday, Adrian and Booker, Douglas (2023) The Indoor Air Quality Trilemma : Improving Air Quality, Using Less Energy, and Meeting Stakeholder Requirements. In: CHI EA '23: Extended Abstracts of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems :. Extended Abstracts of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems . ACM, New York, 275:1-275:6. ISBN 9781450394222

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Abstract

Good indoor air quality (IAQ) is critically important for many as- pects of our lives, including as we’ve found recently in reducing the transmission of airborne diseases such as COVID-19. Deliv- ering good IAQ poses several challenges to organisations: it can require changes in working practices, be bounded by infrastructure capabilities such as buildings and their heating and ventilation sys- tems, and result in substantial energy usage. In this study we have conducted a preliminary investigation measuring IAQ in a typical ‘science lab’ classroom, and engaging with stakeholders to jointly explore these data. Our mixed methods approach uncovers an in- door air quality ‘trilemma’, which relates air quality, energy usage, and stakeholder practices that can be mediated by, and understood as, a site for potentially impactful future HCI designs.