The Importance Of Environmental Psychology

Fundamentally, sustainability is based on the preservation of the planet, the people, and global economics (Edwards, 2011; Steemers & Manchanda, 2010), and is “sometimes referred to as the triple bottom line” (Lynn & Loehr, 2010, p. 270). Each of these three aspects centralizes human preservation as a priority when addressing global environmental issues (Edwards, 2011; Lynn & Loehr, 2010; Steemers & Manchanda, 2010; Tucker, 2010). People spend more than 80 - 90% of their lives in buildings in today’s society with research showing that the built environment impacts various comfort and health parameters (Evans & McCoy, 1998; Fisk & Rosenfeld, 1997; Steemers & Manchanda, 2010). “People are therefore demanding the best in indoor environmental quality for their wellbeing and productivity” (Steemers, & Manchanda, 2010, p. 270) as people want to flourish in their environments (Guerin, & Kwon, 2010; Heerwagen, 2010).

The premise exists that “design can positively affect the physical and psychological health and wellbeing of an environment’s occupants and users” (Kopec, 2009, p. 15). Environmental psychology is a multivariate discipline that establishes the human-environment relationship (Kopec, 2009). An understanding of environmental psychology structures the purpose of this study as a user-centered theory as constructed by Vischer (2008) and similarly by Kopec (2009). User-centered theory focuses on psychological perceptions an occupant forms about the built environment and their personal wellbeing (Vischer, 2008). This theory identifies the occupant’s perception as a critical component to documenting building performance (Vischer, 2008). Furthermore, environmental theory identifies that an occupant’s feelings, responses, and coping mec...

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...s undergone several iterations to include the variety of different project development types, align with policy changes, and adapt to new technologies and innovations in sustainable buildings denoted in Table 1 (U.S. Green Building Council, 2009; Winchip, 2011). Currently, the LEED rating system product portfolio includes: Homes, Neighborhood Development (ND), Commercial Interiors (CI), Core and Shell, New Construction (NC- and Major Renovations), Existing buildings (Operations and Maintenance), Schools, Retail (CI), and Healthcare elaborated in Table ? (Green Building Education Services, 2011; Winchip, 2011). For the purpose of this study, LEED New Construction (NC) version 2.2 will validate the objective quality of the sustainable buildings as the LEED Auburn University building inventory indicates two completed certified building projects demonstrated in table 1.