Importance of being connected to the outside in the workplace

This study examines the relative importance of environmental attributes and sensation of outdoor connection in the design of windows for a workplace by focusing on a sample of practicing building designers in Hong Kong. Discrete choice analysis using a combined visual image and textual and numerical figures was employed to reveal the importance being used by the designers in their evaluation of four performance attributes. Our analysis reveals that the designers placed equal importance on sensation of outdoor connection and thermal performance in window design for the workplace when the interiors of their buildings were open to a view surrounded by other office buildings. On the contrary, daylighting and acoustic performances were not considered to be important in their decision making process. This implies that the designers in Hong Kong had already started to translate their environmental awareness into appropriate design decisions by factoring in thermal energy saving as one of the important considerations for the window designs for the workplace.