User experience of automated blinds in offices

There are clear economical drivers for ambient intelligent office environments. For example, the energy and cost savings that can be made by automatically switching off the light when people are not in a room or by dimming the electric light if sufficient daylight is available. The intelligent behavior should not only result in energy and cost savings, but also make sure that occupants are satisfied with and feel in control of their working environment. However, automation might reduce this feeling of control. If decisions are based solely on economic criteria such as energy saving, the resulting conditions might not be beneficial for the comfort of occupants. A balance between energy efficiency and comfort needs to be found. As a large part of the population spends a significant part of the day in an office environment, it is not surprising to see an increasing awareness of user comfort in office buildings. Besides the positive effects of a comfortable work environment on the health and wellbeing of office workers, studies have shown correlations between the level of comfort and job satisfaction, and even productivity (Boyce, 2003). Hence, there are also economic reasons for employers and building owners to focus on comfortable work environments. Although comfort is a subjective concept, much research has been done on objective determinants and measures of comfort. Many aspects have been identified that influence the perception of comfort in offices, including environmental aspects (e.g. building characteristics, climate), social aspects (e.g. relationships with colleagues), and personal aspects (e.g. gender, age) (Bluyssen et al., 2011). It is unclear how all of these different aspects relate to each other and contribute to an overall perception of comfort, but studies have shown the importance of individual aspects such as daylight and electric lighting on perception of comfort. The perception of control is an important psychological process that influences perceived lighting quality and satisfaction with the working environment (Veitch, 2001). In this paper, we report our work on the user experience of automated daylight control systems in relation to occupants’ perceived comfort with the indoor climate.