The impact of space design on occupants' satisfaction with indoor environment in university dormitories

Indoor environmental quality is closely-related to the occupants' comfort, performance and health. However, very few studies on indoor environmental quality were done in university dormitories, especially with regard to space design. This study aims to better understand the influence of space design on occupants' satisfaction with indoor environmental quality. It conducted a questionnaire survey among occupants of five types of spaces in seven university dormitories. In total, 921 valid responses were collected. Using multiple linear regression, it was found that space design was the most influential factor on the occupants' overall satisfaction with indoor environmental quality. A correlation analysis indicated that there was an overestimation of the correlation between space design and other indoor environmental quality factors. The results of the Mann-Whitney test demonstrated that space design had a halo effect on these factors, and its pros and cons were analyzed. Furthermore, we compared five types of spaces to identify the most satisfactory space type. Single and twin rooms with balconies provided more satisfaction. The occupants' satisfaction increased with an increase in the area per capita, whereas the increase was limited when the value reached 13.5 m2. This study revealed the importance of space design on occupants' satisfaction which deserves more attention, and offered a new dimension to indoor environmental quality research.