Lighting in remote work: a case study in residences

um estudo de caso em residências

Abstract

The lighting in work environments helps in the adequate visualization of the task, facilitating its realization, as well as influencing the sense of well-being of individuals. This study evaluates the lighting conditions in residences in João Pessoa/PB, with occupants who performed typical office work activities remotely from their homes (home office), in hot and humid climates. The research method integrates illuminance measurement in the home office simultaneously with the application of an on-line questionnaire about the perception of the illuminance in the environment and the adaptation actions related to visual comfort that the occupants adopted. The results show low levels of illuminance in the environment (median of 43.40 lux), however, under these conditions, 87.30% of the users considered the lighting satisfactory and 73.02% preferred no modifications. Regarding the adaptation strategies associated with visual comfort, the predominant ones were to turn on the artificial light (38.41%), to open curtains and blinds (36.96%), and to adjust the position of the monitor to avoid uncomfortable reflections (34.78%). While the first two strategies evidence a preference for increasing the lighting of the environment, through artificial lighting, control of natural light or the two together, the action related to adjusting the monitor may be the result of a discomfort related to reflections or excessive lighting incident from the work screen. The results of the study suggest that monitoring the illuminance in other surfaces (vertical and horizontal, in addition to different heights) are necessary for a better understanding of the visual comfort of workers who use computers in the performance of their work functions - beyond the usual standard of measuring the illuminance in the desk level (h = 0.75m).