Exercised control, lighting choices, and energy use: An office stimulationexperiment

The belief that individual control leads to beneficial behavioural outcomes underlies many recommendations to install individual controls on workplace lighting, temperature, and ventilation. The present experiment compared th e work performance and satisfaction of 47 office workers who were given cho ices concerning workplace lighting (CS) with age- and sex-matched partners (PP) who were given no choices but worked under identical lighting. Preferr ed luminous conditions were recorded for both groups. Satisfaction with lig hting and the work environment were high for both groups, and the majority of participants chose lighting conditions consistent with current codes and standards for lighting, including energy use. CS participants had greater perceived control than PP participants, but there were no differences in sa tisfaction, mood, performance or health. PP participants' lighting choices, recorded at the end of the day-long session, created less VDT glare than C S choices. Although there was no short-term benefit of perceived control ov er lighting, it appears that experience with workplace conditions could lea d to the ability to reduce unpleasant conditions if choices were available. (C) 2000 NRC Canada.