Examining Different Placement Strategies for Indoor Environmental Quality Sensors in Office Environments

Collecting Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) data from an occupant's immediate surroundings can provide personalized insights for healthy environmental conditions aligned with occupant preferences, but effective sensor placement for data accuracy and reliability has not been thoroughly explored. This paper explores various positioning of IEQ multi-sensing devices at individual workstations in typical office settings, aiming to identify sensor placements that most accurately reflect the environmental conditions experienced by occupants. We examined five unique positions close to an occupant (above and below the monitor, right side of the desk, ceiling, and chair backrest), two orientations, and three desk locations characterized by different lighting levels, thermal and airflow conditions. Data on temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide (CO2), particulate matters (PM1, PM2.5, PM10), illuminance, and sound were collected over a 2-week longitudinal experiment, followed by short-term experiments simulating common pollution events such as coughing and sneezing. Principal Component Analysis, Spearman's rank correlation, R2, and Mean Absolute Error were applied to identify the position and orientation that best captures the most information and matches breathing zone measurements. It was found that above the monitor position, facing the occupant, best captures the IEQ conditions experienced by the occupant.