The Interplay of State of Mind, Occupant Behaviour, and Well-being in Human-Centric Indoor Environments

ASHRAE defines thermal comfort as "the condition of mind which expresses satisfaction with the thermal environment." While this definition inherently acknowledges the psychological dimension of comfort, traditional evaluations of Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) have predominantly focused on physical and physiological parameters. Addressing this critical gap presents a valuable opportunity to expand our current understanding, as occupant perceptions of indoor environments, whether single-parameter or multi-sensory, are profoundly influenced by psychological, emotional, and sociocultural factors.

Exploring this "state of mind" is essential to interpreting adaptive behaviours. As individuals face environmental stressors, including climate change, transient mood states, cognitive load, and fatigue become crucial determinants of their overall indoor experience. Recognizing this psychological interplay is a key step toward advancing truly human-centric built environments that support overall well-being and diverse health requirements.

The primary goal of this Research Topic is to broaden the traditional boundaries of IEQ and occupant behaviour research toward a holistic, psychological framework. We address the limited understanding of how mood states, cognitive load, and sociodemographic variables modulate environmental multi-modal perception and adaptive behaviours.

Recent advances in psychometric evaluations (e.g., Profile of Mood States (POMS), Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS)) and smart technologies offer valuable opportunities to capture this human experience. By bridging various fields of psychology with building science, this collection aims to uncover the interplay between the human mind and the built environment. Ultimately, we seek to establish evidence-based frameworks informing the design of inclusive, adaptive spaces capable of supporting mental health, well-being, and overall human performance, including both cognitive and athletic performance, effects of climate change, and extreme thermal conditions.

While we bridge multiple disciplines, it is essential that psychological processes and the theoretical contribution remain central throughout the collection. Submissions should retain a substantive psychological, behavioural, or person–environment focus while considering the indoor environment.

Areas of interest include:

- Psychological drivers (e.g., mood, stress, fatigue, cognitive load) influencing occupant behaviour and multi-sensory perception of the four IEQ domains: thermal comfort indoor air quality visual quality and acoustic quality.
-Individual differences in environmental perception and adaptation including the roles of personality traits, age, gender, socio-cultural background in shaping comfort preferences and behavioral responses across the four IEQ domains.
- The impacts of environmental stressors (e.g. thermal extremes, poor air quality, excessive noise, or inadequate lightening) on mental health emotional regulation, and overall well-being.
- The mutual interplay between indoor environmental conditions (thermal, air visual, and acoustics) and human performance during cognitive and athletic tasks.
- Applying psychometric scales (POMS, PANAS) and well-being metrics in Post-Occupancy Evaluations to complement physical IEQ measurements.
- Human-centric smart building design strategies tailored to diverse and vulnerable populations, such as elderly and individuals with specific health conditions, ensuring adaptive and inclusive environmental control.

We welcome Original Research, Brief Research Reports, Reviews, Mini Reviews, Methods, Perspectives, and Hypothesis/Theory articles.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Clinical Trial
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Clinical Trial
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Registered Report
• Review
• Specialty Grand Challenge
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Occupant Behaviour, Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ), Thermal Perception, State of Mind, Multi-Sensory Experiences, Cognitive Load, Well-being, Human Performance, Special Populations, Climate Change, Extreme Thermal Conditions

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.