IMPACT OF INDOOR AIR QUALITY ON OFFICE PROPERTY VALUES IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

Oxygen is an essential element to all mankind. Every human on earth needs sufficient oxygen to function effectively lacking of which would lead to health damage or even death. Because of urbanization, most humans spend 90% of their time working in window-sealed high-rise office buildings. Many researchers have found that poor indoor air quality results in negative impacts on tenant-landlord relationships, workers' health and productivity, and building elements and systems. It is therefore likely that IAQ affects the rental value of office buildings. Thus, the study was aimed at ascertaining the impact of IAQ on office rental in Singapore. Review of relevant literature was done followed by a case study of office buildings located along Marina Centre, Raffles Place, Shenton Way, Tanjong Pagar and Beach Road. The results generated from the regression model shows a positive relationship between office rental value and IAQ. However, the impact of IAQ on rental value is not statistically significant with p-value 0.483, which is greater than a 0.05 level of significance. The results obtained from the regression was further supported by the result of the survey conducted. The survey results reveal that both office building owners and tenants agree that IAQ is not a crucial factor in tenant's choice of office accommodation. Hence the only possibility for an increase in office rental with IAQ improvement would be much affected by the office owners' and tenants' willingness to pay and willingness to accept perceptions.