High indoor air quality and comfortable temperatures are prerequisites for good work, learning and undisturbed sleep

The Civil Engineering Institute and the Human-Oriented Built Environment Lab (HOBEL) of EPFL ENAC invite Pawel Wargocki, Associate Professor at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) to introduce his research on Indoor Air Quality. He will give the joint seminar "High indoor air quality and comfortable temperatures are prerequisites for good work, learning and undisturbed sleep" on Tuesday, 19.09.2023, from 11:00 to 12:00, at Bluefactory Fribourg (room HBL0 21A). Online streaming available on demand.

In the last 25 years, numerous research studies have documented the importance of improved air quality and comfortable temperatures on work performance and learning. Studies have been carried out both in the laboratories and in actual buildings, in different climates and regions of the world. They are consistent and document small but relevant effects on cognitive performance. Subsequent economic calculations show that even a few percent change in performance will be justified in terms of investments to improve the conditions indoors.

Last 10 years have additionally documented the effects of thermal conditions and indoor air quality on sleep with the potential consequences for the next day performance. The picture is clear – maintain good conditions indoors is a prerequisite for high life quality and should not be compromised. The challenge is to develop the solutions that on the one hand improve conditions indoors and on the other have no impact on CO2 emission. Present lecture will summarize the evidence and discuss the future challenges concerning the achievement of high indoor environmental quality.

Pawel Wargocki

Assoc. Prof. Pawel Wargocki (54) graduated from the Warsaw University of Technology in 1990. He received his Ph.D. from the Technical University of Denmark in 1998, where he has been teaching and performing research ever since. He has >25 years of experience in research on human requirements in indoor environments. He is best known for his seminal work, demonstrating that poor indoor environmental quality affects office work and learning performance. Other work influenced the requirements for ventilation and air cleaning. Recent research includes studies on emissions from humans, sleep quality, and performance of green buildings and gas-phase air cleaning and air quality in aircraft.

He has collaborated with leading research institutions, universities, and industrial partners worldwide, including the National University of Singapore, Jiaotong University in Shanghai, Syracuse Center of Excellence, United Technologies, Velux, and Google. He stayed as a guest professor at Pufendorf Institute at Lund University, Waseda University, and the National University of Singapore. He was President and long-standing board member of the International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate (ISIAQ), Vice President of Indoor Air 2008, and Chair of ASHRAE committees. He was a President of the Academy of Indoor Air Sciences. He has received several awards for his work, including the Rockwool Award for Young Researchers, ASHRAE Ralph Nevins Award, Environmental Health Award, Distinguished Service Award, ISIAQ’s Yaglou Award, and Best Paper Awards in Indoor Air. He published extensively.