Abstract

Purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) is characterised by prolonged residential occupancy, compact spatial arrangements and managed building systems. Yet comparatively little evidence addresses how residents understand indoor air quality (IAQ) determinants and prioritise monitoring and mitigation. This exploratory cross-sectional case study examined occupants’ perceptions of environmental and building-related IAQ determinants, awareness of IAQ monitoring technologies, endorsement of mitigation strategies, and overall self-rated IAQ in a near-road PBSA in Bolton, United Kingdom. Seventy-seven survey records were returned, with two respondents under 18 years who provided no substantive IAQ responses, leaving 75 complete cases. Composite scores showed satisfactory internal consistency for environmental-determinant recognition (α = .841), building-related determinant recognition (α = .708), monitoring awareness (α = .838) and mitigation-strategy endorsement (α = .950). Respondents generally recognised the listed determinants and supported the mitigation strategies, and monitoring-awareness scores were positively correlated with mitigation endorsement. In a multiple linear regression, the three predictors jointly explained 63.5% of the variance in mitigation-strategy endorsement (R² = .635; adjusted R² = .620). Residual diagnostics indicated heteroscedasticity, so HC3 robust inference was used. Monitoring awareness showed the strongest independent association with mitigation endorsement (standardised β = .434, p < .001), followed by building-related determinant recognition (β = .292, p = .004). The environmental-determinant association was positive but borderline under robust inference (β = .205, p = .053). Overall self-rated IAQ was analysed separately and was not the dependent variable in this regression. The study therefore contributes context-specific evidence on occupant IAQ awareness and management priorities. Future multi-site research should combine occupant surveys with direct environmental and ventilation measurements.

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