Working from home and indoor environmental quality: A transdisciplinary questionnaire design based on a Delphi study

Miguel Ángel Navas-Martín^1,2*Pablo Meseguer Gancedo³Teresa Cuerdo-Vilches^4,5*

• ¹Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
• ²Universidad del Atlantico Medio, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
• ³Department of Sociology, Faculty of Political Sciences and Sociology, Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), Madrid, Spain
• ⁴Instituto de Ciencias de la Construccion Eduardo Torroja, Madrid, Spain
• ⁵Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Madrid, Spain

Telework has grown significantly in recent decades, particularly by the COVID-19 pandemic, which sparked interest in analysing the conditions under which it takes place, by first time so widespread in such many countries. However, most studies emerged in an exceptional context, without comprehensively or on a large scale addressing the environmental conditions of home-based teleworking under normal circumstances. This study aimed to identify and reach consensus, through an expert panel, on criteria for assessing such conditions in the home, and to analyse users' preferences, suitability, and satisfaction, by developing a robust questionnaire for its evaluation. A modified Delphi method was applied, involving two panels: specialists in the social and in building sciences. Over four rounds, 18 social items and 59 construction-related items were gathered and refined, organised into four thematic blocks. Consensus was achieved through weighted scoring and the 75th percentile, resulting in a final questionnaire of 77 questions integrating both social and technical dimensions. For social science experts, educational level, occupation, and quality of digital devices were considered essential to understand the home teleworking experience. Experts in building physics and architecture prioritised general housing factors as dwelling type, or tenure regime, whilst others resulted more specific, approaching IEQ, as lighting, thermal comfort, air quality, and acoustic insulation, besides ergonomics. The study also agreed on a definition of home-based teleworking, distinguishing it from other ways of remote work carried out in third-party locations— relevant, given that homes are not subject to the environmental regulations of traditional workplaces. Finally, and following data collection, the CHAMBER questionnaire yielded two validated constructs: Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ), reflecting perceived comfort related to environmental conditions and control, and Physical Adequacy, assessing the suitability of the workspace's architectural and functional features. This dual approach differentiates experiential environmental quality from the structural adequateness of home-based teleworking settings. The questionnaire, either based on standards, official and nationwide surveys, and scientific literature, may be applied in other countries, contributing to future research and public policies aimed at improving the environmental quality of home-based teleworking, to integrate both human and physical environmental factors, for workers' health and well-being.