This paper discusses new directions for indoor environment research for the following 4 themes: (i) the current change in office work pattern, workplace design, and increasing demands from the work force, (ii) the large individual variation in requirements for optimal conditions pointing at the key factors of individual response and individual control options based on trade-off experiments, (iii) psychosocial factors as determinants of symptoms, comfort, and productivity, and (iv) transient, nonspecific symptoms in the indoor environment, the identification of causes, and long-term consequences.

Key terms individual control; individual reaction; psychosocial factor; sick-building syndrome; trade-off