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Elevator availability and its impact on stair use in a workplace
Abstract
Consistent success in encouraging stair climbing on public access staircases contrasts with equivocal evidence for effectiveness in worksites. This paper tests whether contextual factors may affect stair/elevator choice. The study investigated the impact of elevator availability, pedestrian traffic (number using the elevator and stairs per minute), building occupancy (total individuals in the building) and time of day on stair ascent and descent in a workplace. Stair and elevator choices were monitored by automatic counters every weekday during two phases. In a natural experiment, days with four available elevators were compared with days when three elevators were available. Stair use increased for three elevators compared to four. Increasing building occupancy was associated with increased stair use, whilst increasing pedestrian traffic and time of day was associated with reduced stair use. A follow-up study revealed complimentary effects of building occupancy and time of day on elevator waiting times, indicating that increased stair use by contextual factors reflects increased elevator waiting times. In contrast, shorter waiting times are likely when momentary pedestrian traffic is high and later in the day. Crucially, the magnitude of the effects of these contextual factors was ten times larger than previously reported effects of stair climbing interventions.Highlights► This paper tests whether contextual factors may affect stair/elevator choice. ► Days with four or three available elevators were compared. ► Stair use increased for three elevators compared to four elevators. ► Higher stair use was associated with a busier (i.e. more individuals in) building. ► Lower pedestrian traffic and time of day was associated with less stair use.
... Universities are exemplary buildings in this context, because of the different scheduled activities and daily high number of occupants, affecting both operation (e.g., energy use) and maintenance performance, impact, and costs (D'Orazio et al. 2022;Lindahl et al. 2018; Mokhtari and Jahangir 2021;Palis and Misnan 2018;Razali et al. 2020;Sun et al. 2021). Technical systems, such as elevators and mechanical stairs, are necessary to ensure movement between different floors, depending on class timetables and activities schedules (Vermuyten et al. 2016), and their continuous use strongly impacts O&M performance, especially for universities hosted in large multistory buildings (Lang et al. 2016;Li et al. 2014;Niu et al. 2021;Olander and Eves 2011;Zubair and Zhang 2020). For example, considering operation tasks, the continuous use of elevators implies high energy use, which can reach 25%-40% of the total energy consumption in a building (Tukia et al. 2016;Zubair and Zhang 2020). ...
... Fig. 3 summarizes the DEU calculation according to the variables and the related adopted methods. The DEU essentially depends on the occupants' movement and on the elevator features (Olander and Eves 2011) and thus, in detail, on the adopted timetable and the number of students attending daily lessons (Fig. 3, Step 1); the analysis of students' movement depending on the path configuration, which was based on the layout of the building (Fig. 3, Step 2), the elevator car capacity, and the run length ( Fig. 3, Step 3); and on the students' declared preferences regarding the use of stairs and elevators (Fig. 3, Step 4). ...
... The results seem to encourage the possibility to use a quick-to-apply but robust modeling approach to be included in building performance simulation (BPS) tools to provide preliminary and expeditious assessments of building O&M performance. 2. Concerning the occupants' interactions with the elevators, although monitoring activities were performed for a limited duration and involving about 10% of occupants, the results seem to be sufficiently reliable because they confirm that the probability of using the elevator increases with the number of the floors traveled, especially when moving upstairs (Li et al. 2014;Olander and Eves 2011). 3. Maintenance performance was confirmed to be influenced by the number of students and the cyclic building use for teaching activities, because WOs essentially increased at reopening and the restarting of building use by students. ...
The sustainability of buildings during their life cycle could be increased by optimizing their facility management. In this sense, data-driven approaches could support the improvement of building operation and maintenance (O&M), because they can exploit collected data to provide useful correlations to assess the sustainability performance depending on the surrounding constraints. Universities are among the most relevant and largest organizations, generally hosted in multistory buildings, that could take advantage of such data to improve the sustainable goals of class occupancy and timetable. A high level of classroom occupancy is the main goal for class timetabling, and its effect on other O&M performance generally is overlooked. In the literature, class timetabling effects on university O&M, and especially on elevator maintenance tasks, have not yet been addressed in depth. Therefore this work adopted a data-driven approach to jointly optimize class scheduling and corrective maintenance actions required for elevators in university buildings. Elevator use is influenced greatly by schedule-dependent occupant movement, and thus is one of the main components of the total maintenance costs, and significantly affects safety performance. A 15-month experimental campaign on a university campus hosting as many as 7,000 occupants daily was performed to correlate occupant presence and movement with the number of corrective actions on elevators. The data-driven correlation was integrated with open-source timetabling software to assess the impact of alternative timetables (affecting occupant movement and occupancy levels) on expected maintenance needs. According to the results, the optimized timetable can reduce current elevator maintenance needs by 65%, whereas the classroom occupancy performance is reduced by only 7%, thus still leading to sustainable building use. The proposed optimization approach allows facility managers to implement a university class timetabling that achieves higher maintenance cost savings, thus moving toward more-sustainable management of building scheduling and maintenance performance in a joint manner.
... Biases against expenditure were reduced at work. Provision of a lift to ascend, as opposed to an escalator in a mall, is the most plausible explanation for this discrepancy between contexts [12,13]. In a public access setting, choice of either the stairs or an adjacent escalator typically incurs a minimal time penalty. ...
... In a public access setting, choice of either the stairs or an adjacent escalator typically incurs a minimal time penalty. At work, however, a pedestrian will have to wait for any lift not at their floor, slowing the journey [13]. Time is important to pedestrians in public access settings [13][14][15] and at work [16,17]. ...
... At work, however, a pedestrian will have to wait for any lift not at their floor, slowing the journey [13]. Time is important to pedestrians in public access settings [13][14][15] and at work [16,17]. When the mechanised alternative is a lift, the stairs may provide a quicker option. ...
Background
Locomotion is an energy costly behaviour, particularly when it entails raising weight against gravity. Minimization of locomotor costs appears a universal default. Avoidance of stair climbing helps humans minimise their energetic costs. In public access settings, demographic subgroups that raise more ‘dead’ weight than their comparison groups when climbing are more likely to avoid stairs by choosing the escalator. Individuals who minimise stair costs at work, however, can accumulate a deficit in energy expenditure in daily life with potential implications for weight gain. This paper tests the generality of avoidance of stairs in pedestrians encumbered by additional weight in three studies.
Methods
Pedestrian choices for stairs or the alternative were audited by trained observers who coded weight status, presence of large bags and sex for each pedestrian. Sex-specific silhouettes for BMIs of 25 facilitated coding of weight status. Choices between stairs and a lift to ascend and descend were coded in seven buildings (n = 26,981) and at an outdoor city centre site with the same alternatives (n = 7,433). A further study audited choices to ascend when the alternative to stairs was a sloped ramp in two locations (n = 16,297). Analyses employed bootstrapped logistic regression (1000 samples).
Results
At work and the city centre site, the overweight, those carrying a large bag and females avoided both stair climbing and descent more frequently than their comparison groups. The final study revealed greater avoidance of stairs in these demographic subgroups when the alternative means of ascent was a sloped ramp.
Discussion
Minimization of the physiological costs of transport-related walking biases behaviour towards avoidance of stair usage when an alternative is available. Weight carried is an encumbrance that can deter stair usage during daily life. This minimization of physical activity costs runs counter to public health initiatives to increase activity to improve population health.
... Point-of-decision (POD) prompts-messages positioned at the points-of-choice between methods of ascent or descent-are a widely adopted method to encourage individuals to use the stairs instead of the elevators or escalators [6,7,8]. Despite the converging evidence that POD prompts can encourage stair use in both public and workplace settings [9], there is still a persistent call for further exploration of designs that lend POD prompts to higher rates of effectiveness [1,10]. ...
... Like the prior studies on stair use [7,8], the unit of analysis of the present study is the observation of human behaviors (i.e., stair use and elevator use). To test hypothesis 1, we used logistic regression [7] and a difference-in-differences (DID) approach to estimate how the odds of stair use changed from the baseline to the treatment period in the treatment groups (i.e., Hall B, C, D) relative to that in the control group (i.e., Hall A). ...
... Like the prior studies on stair use [7,8], the unit of analysis of the present study is the observation of human behaviors (i.e., stair use and elevator use). To test hypothesis 1, we used logistic regression [7] and a difference-in-differences (DID) approach to estimate how the odds of stair use changed from the baseline to the treatment period in the treatment groups (i.e., Hall B, C, D) relative to that in the control group (i.e., Hall A). The DID approach estimated the relative change in stair use over time associated with the POD prompts as the difference of 2 differences: the difference in stair use between the treatment and control groups, and the difference in stair use before and after the POD prompts were installed. ...
A quasi-experimental field study was undertaken to examine whether the source credibility of point-of-decision (POD) prompts would affect their effectiveness in increasing stair use. POD prompts attributed either to a more credible source, a less credible source, or nothing were randomly installed in three student halls of residence at a public university in Hong Kong (plus a control). The stair and elevator use of residents were recorded by view-from-top surveillance cameras and counted using motion-detection software, resulting in 14,189 observations. The findings show that all the POD prompts can yield, as hypothesized, a significant positive effect on stair use. The relative increase in stair use was 2.49% on average. However, contrary to our second hypothesis, the POD prompt attributed to the more credible source was not the most effective intervention. The implications of these findings are discussed in conclusion.
... Movement of pedestrians using a building will influence stair behavior, independent of any signage intervention [13,29]. One variable with ubiquitous effects on stair climbing is the volume of pedestrian traffic at the choice-point. ...
... In workplaces, where the alternative is an elevator, the opposite effect of pedestrian movement occurs. Increased momentary traffic at the elevator choice-point (i.e., each minute) reduces stair climbing [26,29,33]. We suspect this reduction reflects effects of time pressure and potential social interactions at the choice-point [18,26,29,[33][34][35]. ...
... Increased momentary traffic at the elevator choice-point (i.e., each minute) reduces stair climbing [26,29,33]. We suspect this reduction reflects effects of time pressure and potential social interactions at the choice-point [18,26,29,[33][34][35]. The need to wait for an elevator that might be elsewhere in the building means that the choice at work is not the same as when the alternative is an adjacent escalator in public access settings [18,29,34]. ...
Increased stair climbing reduces cardiovascular disease risk. While signage interventions for workplace stair climbing offer a low-cost tool to improve population health, inconsistent effects of intervention occur. Pedestrian movement within the built environment has major effects on stair use, independent of any health initiative. This paper used pooled data from UK and Spanish workplaces to test the effects of signage interventions when pedestrian movement was controlled for in analyses. Automated counters measured stair and elevator usage at the ground floor throughout the working day. Signage interventions employed previously successful campaigns. In the UK, minute-by-minute stair/elevator choices measured effects of momentary pedestrian traffic at the choice-point (n = 426,605). In Spain, aggregated pedestrian traffic every 30 min measured effects for ‘busyness’ of the building (n = 293,300). Intervention effects on stair descent (3 of 4 analyses) were more frequent than effects on stair climbing, the behavior with proven health benefits (1 of 4 analyses). Any intervention effects were of small magnitude relative to the influence of pedestrian movement. Failure to control for pedestrian movement compromises any estimate for signage effectiveness. These pooled data provide limited evidence that signage interventions for stair climbing at work will enhance population health.
... There have been several studies that have focused on promoting stairwell use over elevator use [40][41][42][43][44][45][46]. Many of these studies are motivated by the desire to improve the health of occupants through increased exercise, using information posted at the point of choice (such as next to an elevator or stairwell door) [40,41,44,46]. ...
... Contextual factors may also play an important role in people's decision to use the stairs over the elevator. A study by Olander and Eves [45] demonstrated the influence of the physical and social environment such as e.g., number of working elevators (physical) and the building's occupancy (social) on the stair usage. The study was carried out in an office building and researchers showed that "factors which increase waiting time for the elevator, and hence journey time, act as barriers to elevator use" [45]. ...
... A study by Olander and Eves [45] demonstrated the influence of the physical and social environment such as e.g., number of working elevators (physical) and the building's occupancy (social) on the stair usage. The study was carried out in an office building and researchers showed that "factors which increase waiting time for the elevator, and hence journey time, act as barriers to elevator use" [45]. In contrast to their study, our intervention was carried out in a residential building where waiting times typically was limited to the time it took to transport the elevator to the desired floor of departure. ...
Demand response can be applied in a smart grid scenario to promote renewable energy integration by regulating the electricity consumption to match the available renewable production. Buildings are relevant demand response sources for consuming significant amounts of electricity. This paper presents Green Lift, an intervention that explores the demand response potential of indirectly controlling elevators in buildings. Green Lift aims at changing the elevator usage by providing information on “good” and “bad” times to take the elevator, from a CO2 emissions intensity perspective. This is accomplished by installing LEDs beside the elevator doors, linked with real-time CO2 information: the LEDs flash red when electricity produced is CO2 intense and green otherwise. During a one-month field trial, we tested Green Lift in a 12-storey Danish student dormitory. Combining quantitative and qualitative analysis in an interdisciplinary approach, we observed that more people chose the stairwell over the elevator. However, there was no significant reduction in the elevator electricity consumption. Interviews with the residents revealed that the concept of shifting energy consumption was hard to comprehend. We concluded that the studied elevator is not a good source of flexible consumption and we discuss the implications of these results to elevators in other environments.
... Public access settings typically involve choice between stairs and an escalator whereas at work, pedestrians choose between stairs and the elevator. As Olander and Eves (2011a) demonstrated, variability in waiting time for the elevator could have major effects on stair use. The number of individuals in the building and the number waiting to use the elevator had effects on stair use some ten times the magnitude of typical intervention effects. ...
... The number of individuals in the building and the number waiting to use the elevator had effects on stair use some ten times the magnitude of typical intervention effects. Thus, uncontrolled factors in the workplace, related to waiting time for the elevator, may serve to dilute effects of any intervention (Olander and Eves, 2011a). Second, message content may contribute to differences between public access and workplace settings. ...
... Others felt that stairs were an obstacle in their path and added unnecessary time to their journey, particularly during high levels of pedestrian traffic (a social factor) since large numbers of people on the stairs make it difficult to move around. From this it is easy to see how a traveler may be seduced by an empty elevator that is immediately available at work despite a prior intention to climb the stairs for their health (Olander and Eves, 2011a). On the other hand when the elevator is not available, very busy travelers may choose the stairs, not because of a prior intention, but simply because it provides a faster route to their destination. ...
Purpose
– Worksites have been targeted as an important setting for physical activity interventions. A recent emphasis for health promoters is the use of point-of-choice interventions to encourage stair climbing at work. The purpose of this paper is to explore three point-of-choice campaigns to increase stair climbing at work.
Design/methodology/approach
– Ten focus groups and a rating task were conducted with 59 employees from a University and a University Hospital in the UK. Focus groups were structured around three messages and four prompts and sought to explore the motivational power of the resources, identify factors contributing to their effectiveness and provide recommendations to improve and optimize content. Benefits and barriers to stair climbing at work were also explored. Focus groups were recorded, transcribed and coded to identify key themes.
Findings
– Intra-personal factors health, motivation, social norms and time management influence stair climbing at work. Critically, extra-personal factors associated with the worksite itself can also bias a traveler’s choice independently of any intervention. Results suggest that messages targeting heart health have the greatest impact on reported propensity to climb the stairs at work. Messages targeting rate of respiration for fitness, however, may have a negative effect given that most people want to avoid getting out of breath at work.
Originality/value
– Qualitative research is essential for developing and refining the design detail of point-of-choice interventions and tailoring their components to address individuals’ needs in different settings but there is little evidence of this in practice.
... Features of the physical environment such as availability, accessibility, attractiveness, safety, and convenience of stairs, walking paths, and outdoor spaces can enhance PA. 7,11,[14][15][16][17] Examples include building walking paths, improving the conditions of stairs, and limiting access to elevators, which can lead to increases in PA within the setting. 11,15,17,18 Strategies for promoting PA within the healthcare environment have been implemented in the United States, Canada and Europe. [19][20][21][22] In Brazil, primary care units across the country have introduced approaches to promote PA, such as walking groups, communication and informational strategies. ...
... Existing tools for measuring PA micro-environments [28][29][30] are not specific to the healthcare setting, and tools to measure the PA healthcare environment are lacking. Because the features of microenvironments influence PA, 7,10,11,15,17,18 it is important to develop tools to further explore this link, particularly within healthcare settings. Thus, the purpose of this study was to assess and compare the informational, educational and instrumental environments among the three Mexican healthcare subsystems for their potential to promote PA using a novel observational tool. ...
... 7,10,15 Although findings show that elevators were less accessible and less frequently used for vertical travel compared to stairs, when they were present, they were highly visible. Given that the presence of elevators deters stair use, 17,18 strategies for promoting stair use over the elevators may be warranted. Effective strategies include having fewer elevators working in the building (e.g. three out of four) or programming elevators to only stop on every other floor. ...
Objective:
To assess the informational, educational and instrumental environments among Mexican healthcare settings for their potential to promote physical activity (PA).
Materials and methods:
The Environmental Physical Activity Assessment Tool for Healthcare Settings (EPATHS) was developed to assess the PA environments of 40 clinics/hospitals representing the three Mexican healthcare systems in Guadalajara. The EPATHS assessed the presence and quality of PA enhancing features in the informational (e.g. signage), educational (e.g. pamphlets), and instrumental (e.g. stairs) environments of included clinics/hospitals.
Results:
28 (70%) clinics/hospitals had more than one floor with stairs; 60% of these had elevators. Nearly 90% of stairs were visible, accessible and clean compared to fewer than 30% of elevators. Outdoor spaces were observed in just over half (55%) of clinics/hospitals, and most (70%) were of good quality. Only 25% clinics/hospitals had educational PA materials.
Conclusions:
The PA instrumental environment of Mexican healthcare settings is encouraging. The informational and educational environments could improve.
... For example, proximity to utilitarian destinations and mixed usage of urban environments have been associated with walking (McCormack, Giles-Corti, & Bulsara, 2008;Saelens & Handy, 2008), as have supportive social partners (Giles-Corti & Donovan, 2003). Similarly, stair use has been related to the layout of the built environment (e.g., Eves, Olander, Nicoll, Puig Ribera, & Griffin, 2009) and the movement of pedestrians within it (Eves et al., 2009;Olander & Eves, 2011a;Webb, Eves, & Smith, 2011a). Interventions for stair climbing are an example of active environmental changes aiming to increase lifestyle physical activity. ...
... Hence, ways to successfully intervene for stair climbing in worksites are an important step towards the public health goal of increased lifestyle physical activity. Part of this failure to successfully increase stair climbing in worksites may reflect uncontrolled effects of lift availability (Olander & Eves, 2011a). Additionally, messages to encourage stair climbing are often freely generated by researchers without any pre-testing such that the optimal messages may not have been employed in some studies (Webb & Eves, 2007a). ...
... As noted earlier, social environments can influence stair climbing. The number of people in the building at any point in time, termed building occupancy, biases behaviour towards stair use, whereas minute-by-minute pedestrian traffic at the point-of-choice and time of day can bias behaviour away from stair use (Olander & Eves, 2011a). Hence these factors were included in analyses. ...
Objectives: Health promotion agencies advocate use of mountain climbing goals to encourage regular stair climbing, a current public health target. This paper tests effects of a mountain climbing campaign on objective measures of stair use for the first time. Design: Field interview and quasi-experimental, interrupted time-series study. Method: In field interviews, a convenience sample (n = 1350) responded to questions about different goals, i.e., heights of climb, to encourage stair use in buildings. Subsequently, a point-of-choice intervention with the main message 'Take the stairs to the top of this building once a day and in a year, you would have climbed Mount Everest almost twice' was tested in a 12-floor worksite. A no-message baseline was followed by installation of the intervention. Results: Stair ascent (n = 62,716) and descent (n = 61,218) at the ground floor was measured with automated counters at baseline (11 days) and during the intervention (18 days). The majority of interviewees (60%) chose a message based on climbing Mt. Everest as the most motivating, with only 5% of interviewees not motivated by any climbing goal. Nonetheless, the subsequent intervention using the mountain climbing goal had no effect on stair climbing (OR = 0.96). As the campaign specifically targeted stair ascent, it failed to influence the behaviour with the greater public health dividend. Conclusion: The discrepancy between pre-testing and the campaign may reflect the fact that performance goals can only be achieved at the end of the task and may not be continually rewarded during accumulation of behaviour towards the goal.
... The physical environment can bias a traveller's choice, such that people are more likely to opt for the easiest and 'quickest' way to their destination. For example, it has been reported that height of a building (Bungum, Meacham, & Truax, 2007;Eves & Webb, 2006;Olander & Eves, 2011a) and the number of lifts (Nicoll & Zimring, 2009;Olander & Eves, 2011b) can negatively influence stair-climbing behaviour. Specifically, the higher a building and the greater the number of lifts, the less likely individuals are to opt for the stairs. ...
... Specifically, the higher a building and the greater the number of lifts, the less likely individuals are to opt for the stairs. Furthermore, it has been reported that frequency of stair climbing can reduce as the time of day increases, that is, more people climb the stairs earlier in the day (Olander & Eves, 2011b). These factors were, therefore, measured in each of the buildings and controlled for in the analysis. ...
... These periods of increased pedestrian movement within the building reflected students going to lecture theatres prior to the onset of lectures. As the choice of ascent method during these times would be severely constrained by the reduced availability of the lift (Olander & Eves, 2011b), stair climbing could occur independently of any intervention. An a priori decision was made, therefore, not to record data within these four time periods with high levels of pedestrian traffic. ...
Recent interventions report positive results following a multi-component campaign to increase stair climbing. This study investigated the effectiveness of volitional and motivational components of a stair-climbing intervention in the workplace. Design. Interrupted time-series design.
Ascending stair/lift choices, coded by gender, were observed between 08:00-10:00 and 14:15-16:15 on weekdays, in four university buildings (n = 14,138; 46% female). Baseline observations (stage 1; 5 days) preceded a motivational intervention, that is, a poster positioned inside the lift(s), that was positioned in each building (stage 2; 5 days). Next a volitional intervention, that is, point-of-choice prompt, supplemented the motivational one (stage 3; 8 days). Logistic regression analysis of stair/lift choices included the independent variables of intervention components, gender, time of day, building height, number of lifts, and pedestrian traffic.
There was no significant change in stair climbing when the motivational component was positioned alone (Odds Ratio [OR] = 0.93, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] = 0.85-1.02, p = .123). In contrast, stair climbing increased significantly when the volitional component, that is, the point-of-choice prompt, was added (OR = 1.23, 95% CI = 1.14-1.32, p < .001). During both stages, building height, number of lifts, time of day, and pedestrian traffic were all associated with stair climbing. No significant gender effects were seen.
A motivational component positioned alone, inside the lift(s) did not increase stair climbing. When a volitional component was added, that is, point-of-choice prompt positioned at the time and place where individuals choose their method of ascent, stair climbing increased significantly. Visibility of a prompt at the time behavioural choice is made appears necessary to change actual behaviour.
... Another possible reason for the failure is that students could have preferred to walk in groups back from the university. Pedestrian traffic at the choice-point between lifts and stairs reduces stair climbing [18,25,26] . If one member of a group travelling together is unwilling to take the stairs, then the rest of the group could be constrained to use the lift, despite some having a positive view of the intervention. ...
... A similar explanation may explain the differences between usage based on the height of climb. The lowest electricity consumption occurred for the least height of climb, three storeys, consistent with effects of potential height of climb on stair use [18,25,26] . Nonetheless, there was more consumption for the four-storey climb that the taller five and six-storey climbs. ...
Lifts are almost ubiquitous in modern, high rise workplaces. This study tested the effectiveness of health messages displayed on posters to promote stair climbing and reduce the use of the lifts, and consequently their cost. There were six buildings at the university accommodation comprised of 11 lifts and 15 stair cases. Posters with a message based on the potential calorific expenditure from a single total ascent were displayed for four weeks. The stair climbing interventions were conducted in the spring and autumn of the subsequent academic year. Results showed no significant difference in electricity consumption between baseline and intervention, for either intervention period (p= .799).
... Other caveats when analyzing the effectiveness of point-of-decision prompts on stair usage are building occupancy, time of day, and pedestrian traffic. In a study by Olander and Eves [56], stair usage increased when there was an increase in building occupancy and when three elevators were present compared to four. On the contrary, stair usage decreased when pedestrian traffic increased and as the workday moved toward the afternoon and evening hours. ...
... Encouraging PA during the workday is a viable method to increase overall PA throughout the week, with corresponding positive effects on several health variables that include body weight, other markers of metabolic disease and mood. Interventions that encourage PA at work range from stair use [51][52][53][54][55][56][57], sit/stand furniture [57,58,107], and walking [61][62][63][64]66]. Furthermore, the psychological benefits associated with increased physical activity may promote other healthy lifestyle choices such as increased social interactions, increased physical activity by other means [60], and improvements in food intake [72]. ...
Evidence for behavior modification for improved health outcomes was evaluated for nutrition, physical activity (PA), and indoor environmental quality (IEQ). The databases searched included LISTA, PubMed, and Web of Science, with articles rated using an a priori baseline score of 70/100 to establish inclusion. The initial search produced 52,847 articles, 63 of which were included in the qualitative synthesis. Thirteen articles met inclusion for nutrition: cafeteria interventions, single interventions, and vending interventions. Seventeen articles on physical activity were included: stair use, walking, and adjustable desks. For IEQ, 33 articles met inclusion: circadian disruption, view and natural light, and artificial light. A narrative synthesis was used to find meaningful connections across interventions with evidence contributing to health improvements. Commonalities throughout the nutrition studies included choice architecture, increasing the availability of healthy food items, and point-of-purchase food labeling. Interventions that promoted PA included stair use, sit/stand furniture, workplace exercise facilities and walking. Exposure to natural light and views of natural elements were found to increase PA and improve sleep quality. Overexposure to artificial light may cause circadian disruption, suppressing melatonin and increasing risks of cancers. Overall, design that encourages healthy behaviors may lower risks associated with chronic disease.
... Any such deliberation may result in the substitution for a health-enhancing alternative. 9 Point-of-choice prompts are post-intentional or volitional aids to health behavior because they exert their effects after individuals have decided to improve their health; the prompt merely reminds individuals of their prior intention, ensuring that the opportunity for action is not missed. On its own, a prompt will not influence behavior; it must be preceded by an intention to change. ...
... On its own, a prompt will not influence behavior; it must be preceded by an intention to change. [9][10][11] Thus, the formation of a behavioral intention is the starting point for behavior change with any prompting campaign. ...
Objectives:
To develop 3 point-of-choice campaigns to influence food choice in workplace cafeterias.
Design:
Eight focus groups were conducted to guide campaign development.
Setting:
Focus groups were conducted in the workplace.
Participants:
University employees (n = 36) aged 23-58 years (mean, 33.8 years).
Phenomenon of interest:
To explore ways to prompt changes in behavior.
Analysis:
Transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis.
Results:
This study identified calories and saturated fat as information that would have the greatest influence on food selection. Participants want this information at the time the choice is made. Participants reported limited time to eat at work, so converting nutrient density per 100 g or per serving to per portion consumed from point-of-choice labels was not a priority. Participants said that they have more time to read information in places where they line up for food, so at this point they are more open to persuasive messages. Effective messages urge the reader to take immediate action and explain why they should choose the behavior and how it will help them achieve health.
Conclusions and implications:
Point-of-choice campaigns were well received, but factors such as cost, time, and availability of healthy food at work may shape choices to a greater extent than nutrition information.
... To increase model precision, a variable 'weekend day (yes/no)' was included to account for the reduced number of staff during the weekends. Similar to one previous study, 16 results are presented with and without additional adjustment for the number of hospital restaurant customers on each day, reflecting variations in building occupancy. Results were stratified by hospital wing and floor level to assess the consistency of our findings. ...
... Also, results were adjusted for the number of customers of the hospital restaurant as a measure of building occupancy, like was done in one previous study also. 16 Thus, although no data about elevator use were obtained during the study, we were able to ascertain that changes in the number of passages through the staircases were not just due to changes in building occupancy. A factor that could not be stabilised, however, was the weather type. ...
To evaluate whether four types of low-cost interventions in the working environment can promote the small everyday lifestyle adaptations that can halt the epidemics of obesity and hypertension when maintained long term.
A single-blind uninterrupted time-series intervention study consisting of four study periods: run-in (2 weeks), baseline (2 weeks), intervention (2 weeks), and after intervention 2 weeks).
University Medical Centre with over 11 000 employees, over 1000 hospital beds and over 2000 customers visiting the hospital restaurant each day.
Hospital staff and visitors.
(1) Point-of-decision prompts on hospital elevator doors promoting stair use. (2) Point-of-purchase prompts in the hospital restaurant promoting reduced-salt soup. (3) Point-of-purchase prompts in the hospital restaurant promoting lean croissants. (4) Reversal of the accessibility and availability of diet margarine and butter in the hospital restaurant.
(1) Number of passages through 15 different parts of the hospital staircases. (2) Number and ratio of normal-salt and reduced-salt soup purchased. (3) Number and ratio of butter croissants and lean croissants purchased. (4) Number and ratio of diet margarine and butter purchased.
Elevator signs increased the mean 24-h number of stair passages per measurement site (baseline: 992 ± 479 on week days and 208 ± 116 on weekend days) by 11.2% (95% CI 8.7% to 13.7%). This effect was maintained at least 2 weeks after the point-of-decision prompts were removed. Point-of-purchase prompts promoting low-salt soup and lean croissants did not result in altered purchase behaviour. The ratio between the purchase of margarine and butter was changed sevenfold (p<0.01) by reversing the positions of these products in the hospital restaurant.
Healthy lifestyle adaptations in the working environment can be effectively promoted by making healthy choices easier than unhealthy ones. Educational prompts at points-of-decision moderately increase stair climbing, but do not affect healthy food choices. PROTOCOL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov identifier number: NCT01574040.
... 12 For worksites where the choice is between stairs and an elevator, the 'business' of the building (ie, its occupancy) can reduce the availability of the elevator to incoming pedestrians. 32 As a result, crude traffic measures (ie, over 15-minute periods) show similar positive relationships between stair climbing and pedestrian traffic (Lewis and Eves, submitted). When pedestrian traffic is measured every minute, however, the relationship with stair use in buildings is negative; increased traffic is associated with reduced stair climbing. ...
... When pedestrian traffic is measured every minute, however, the relationship with stair use in buildings is negative; increased traffic is associated with reduced stair climbing. 32 To illustrate the importance of pedestrian traffic, Figure 4 depicts the overall percentage stair climbing (ie, averaged across platforms, plotted against the natural logarithm of traffic during baseline and interventions periods). The preponderance of high traffic values at the simple message platform when the intervention was effective partially compensates for the ineffectiveness of the complex message at the same traffic level. ...
While point-of-choice prompts consistently increase stair climbing, experimental comparisons of message content are rare. Here, the effects of 2 messages differing in complexity about the health outcomes obtainable from stair climbing were compared.
In a UK train station with 2 independent platforms exited by identical 39-step staircases and adjacent escalators, observers recorded travelers ascent method and gender from 8:00 A.M. to 10:00 A.M. on 2 weekdays during February/March 2008 (n = 48,697). Baseline observations (2-weeks) preceded a 3-week poster phase. Two posters (594 × 841mm) that differed in the complexity of the message were positioned at the point-of-choice between ascent methods, with 1 placed on each side of the station simultaneously. Logistic regression analysis was conducted in April 2010.
Omnibus analysis contained main effects of the intervention (OR = 1.07, CI = 1.02-1.13, P = .01) and pedestrian traffic volume (OR = 5.42, CI = 3.05-9.62, P < .001). Similar effects occurred for complex (OR = 1.10, CI = 1.02-1.18, P = .01) and simple messages (OR = 1.07, CI = 1.01-1.13, P = .02) when analyses controlled for the influence of pedestrian traffic volume. There was reduced efficacy for the complex message during busier periods (OR = 0.36, CI = 0.20-0.66, P = .001), whereas the simple message was immune to these effects of traffic volume.
Pedestrian traffic flow in stations can influence message effectiveness. Simple messages appear more suitable for busy sites.
... Similarly, in a systematic literature review on the impacts of workplace physical environments on employees' physical activity and sedentary behaviour, Zhu et al. (2020) found that research at building scale is relatively understudied. Research to date includes investigations into factors such as stair location, accessibility, width and aesthetics McGann et al., 2015;Mustafa & Ali, 2023;Ruff et al., 2014;Swenson & Siegel, 2013), the availability of elevators (Nicoll & Zimring, 2009;Olander & Eves, 2011;Puig-Ribera et al., 2019), interventions involving motivational signage and interactive paintings related to exercise at decision points (Bauman, Chau, Engelen, & Gale, 2017;Ferrara & Murphy, 2013;Muttaqien, Wasityastuti, Sofyana, Agustiningsih, & Wibowo, 2023;Puig-Ribera et al., 2019;Yoon, Hughley, & Paudel, 2023), and office layout (with bathrooms, kitchens, and resource rooms located at a distance from the main working stations) (Jenkins, Buchan, Rhodes, & Hamilton, 2024). Thus, there is a need for further research to understand what might be the best targets for workplace circulation design and modifications Fisher et al., 2018). ...
... Within the fields of environmental psychology and environmental design, investigations regarding stairways generally focus on health aspects. These include number of people using the stairs vs. the elevator; aesthetic interventions to increase use of stairways etc. (see Olander & Eves, 2011;Lee et al., 2012;Boutelle et al., 2001;Kerr et al., 2001;Burger &Shelton, 2011 andNieuw-Amerongen et al., 2011 for examples of research regarding the use of stairways). Warren's (1984) has carried experiments on stair climbing. ...
In this paper, we offer arguments for the relevance and usefulness of applying a psychological affordance perspective to social interaction in the built environment. Our empirical focus is on building elements where the intention of the architectural design is better to foster social coordination and interaction between building users. We illustrate how the concept of social affordances relates to such social activities through scrutinizing a special designed central stairway architectural element in a building housing the Ørestad College in Copenhagen, Denmark. We take a qualitative approach using observational study techniques using video recordings of the everyday use the stairway at the college. Through our analysis we identify eight types of social interactions, which we distilled into four categories of social activities afforded by the lays-out of the stairway and its surroundings; social walking, social spotting, social waiting and social encountering. We discuss our findings both theoretically and in relation to architectural practice and we conclude that the concept of social affordances would be of great use and value for research and practice in architectural design. Moreover, the findings presented in this paper have potential theoretical implications related to the coupling between the concept of affordances on one hand and social interactions on the other, a coupling that is shown to be relevant not only theoretically, but also through its empirical application.
... An extensive amount of research on accidents has been done regarding cranes [8], [9] and escalators [10], [11]. More work needs to be done regarding elevator accidents; to study in particular causes and effects [6], [7], [12], [13]. The general pattern is that most elevator accidents are not reported due to various reasons with most dominant the absence of responsible to keep data, state office. ...
This study presents a statistical analysis applying different statistical techniques, including trained Bayesian Networks an artificial intelligence (AI) method, to explore datasets of lift accidents involving safety rules for two countries: UK and France. The study concerns six years data for both countries and covers almost all elevator accidents taken place during private and professional uses; 218 cases for UK and 205 cases for France. The relevant time interval for U.K. is 6th January 2006 to 29th December 2012, while for France data concern the period of 18th February 2003 to 17th December 2009. The major aim of the study is to exhibit and demonstrate that for accident datasets, at least for similar datasets, multiple statistical methods have to be applied in order to extract reliable information, i.e. investigate interactions among factors and therefore help to develop prevention measures. Three statistical models were built to derive associations between factors concerning violation of rules related to the installation and maintenance of elevators, passengers’ safety rules, risks and unforeseen circumstances. Associations between severity of injury and categories of gender or age of injured people have been found. Furthermore, specific influences between severity of injury and categories of type of rules or of type of accident have been identified. The obtained results will contribute to the design of efficient methods to avoid future accidents in both countries.
... The quick and easy access to fast food and lack of access to affordable exercise facilities reported by women were probably contributing to women's low engagement in weight management behaviours, as also shown in previous research [52]. Previous studies have shown how altering elements of people's environments helped modulate their behaviour [53]. Decisions at policy level regarding free access to exercise facilities for pregnant women and/or promoting barriers to accessing fast food such as price increases or location regulation would be very beneficial. ...
Background
Obesity and overweight are considered risk factors for a range of adverse outcomes, including stillbirth. This study aims to identify factors reported by women influencing weight management behaviours during pregnancy.
Methods
A systematic search was conducted in five databases from inception to 2019 and updated in 2021. Qualitative studies involving pregnant or post-partum women, from high-income countries, examining women’s experiences of weight management during pregnancy were included. Meta-ethnography was used to facilitate the meta-synthesis of 17 studies.
Results
Three themes were identified during the analysis: (1) Awareness and beliefs about weight gain and weight management, which included level of awareness and knowledge about dietary and exercise recommendations, risk perception and decision balance, perceived control over health and weight gain and personal insecurities. (2) Antenatal healthcare, women’s experiences of their interactions with healthcare professionals during the antenatal period and the quality of the education received had an effect on women’s behaviour. Further, our findings highlight the need for clear and direct information, and improved interactions with healthcare professionals, to better support women’s weight management behaviours. (3) Social and environmental influence, the social judgement and stigmatization associated with overweight and obesity also acted as a negative influence in womens’ engagement in weight management behaviours.
Conclusion
Interventions developed to promote and maintain weight management behaviours during pregnancy should consider all levels of influence over women’s behaviours, including women’s level of awareness and beliefs, experiences in antenatal care, education provision and social influence.
... This reduction is associated with the occupant density decrease of about − 86% (see Fig. 3), with no evident delay: when occupant presence is almost zero (during the strict lockdown phase) a sudden and fast reduction of WOs is clearly detected. The most important reduction characterizes Elevator WOs (− 70%), probably due both to a limited use as high-exposure closed environments [18] and to the lowest occupant density [66]. ...
Building maintenance needs in public buildings depend on occupant activities and presence. Research should understand how different types of occupant density patterns can be used to forecast the likelihood of specific kinds of maintenance requests. This research adopts a data-driven approach to evaluate experimental-based correlations between maintenance work orders number (relating to a set of Italian university buildings as a relevant case study) and occupant density, thanks to exceptional conditions due to COVID-19 pandemic, which significantly altered building use. Results offer a power-law-based correlation model, confirming that the reduction of occupant density in the COVID-19 lock-down phases impacted the number and perceived severity, but not the typologies, of maintenance work orders. The retrieved correlation model occupant could be directly used to define and prioritize maintenance strategies given occupant density. Future research could use the model to define outsourcing and contract definitions starting from historical data on maintenance actions.
... Passenger flow is estimated as the number of pedestrians passing a given density is directly proportional to the flowrate. As the pedestrian arrival rate will increase, the density of pedestrian increases and due to this the available space for the easy movement of passengers at all entrance and exit will be reduced [11]. When the flow rate increase in an area density will also increase, up to when the available space area is fully occupied flow rate will decrease and queue will form. ...
Pedestrians are an important element of transportation system since every person's trip begins and ends in walking. An enormous growth of population has been observed in the recent years and of number passengers are traveling by Indian railway has been increased significantly during the pilgrim season due to rapid urbanization. In the passenger traffic is an important component of traffic handled by the Railways, because of competitive tariffs, comfort, and speed of movement. The present study is carried out in the pilgrim area of railway stations in Kerala state namely, Palakkad Junction, Thrissur, Kottayam, Chengannur, and Trivandrum Central which has the highest annual passenger of boarding and alighting are recorded, with the help of recorded video graphic footage in the railway station premises. Collection and dispersal of passengers on railway platforms take place through stairways that connect the foot over bridges in the station premises. The studies carried out in the pedestrian parameters and estimate the capacity of pedestrian flow characteristics are influenced by a number of attributes of pedestrian like age, gender, physical dimensions, luggage carried, group size, activity while walking, purpose in addition to the other attributes such as space availability, the direction of movement and schedule of a train as well at entry and exit passageway of stairways with the help of Indo-HCM 2017 and NFPA 130, 2020 also to analyses the level of service of a pedestrian with the fundamental diagrams of passenger flow of speed-flow, speed-density, and flow-density are developed to illustrate the behaviour of pedestrian stream on stairways of different dimensions at all entry and exit of various platforms. The Findings of this study are expected to be useful for civic bodies, railway protection force, policymakers, the public, and other stakeholders to design a solution working on the idea of world-magnificence stations.
... The stairs are immediately and continuously available, whereas for taking the elevator users mostly have to wait for its arrival. The uncertainty regarding the elevator's availability can be perceived as a barrier for its use (Olander and Eves, 2011;Kerr et al., 2001b). On the other hand, a user who intended to take the stairs can also be tempted to take the elevator if it is immediately available . ...
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate whether and why nudging interventions in an office environment are effective to stimulate stair use of employees.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based on a pre-test/post-test case study design at the headquarters of a Dutch online retailer. Observations were conducted to test the impact of two nudge interventions, being footprints and posters, on employees’ stair use in two consecutive pre-test/post-test weeks. An online survey questionnaire was used to assess employees’ overall experience with the nudging interventions after the fifth and again neutral week.
Findings
A total of 14,357 observations were recorded during five weeks. This research shows that footprints as nudging intervention significantly increase stair use of employees, and after removal, significantly decrease stair use again. Moreover, footprints were more effective than posters, of which the latter did not impact stair use significantly. Results from the survey questionnaire, completed by 46.2 per cent of the employees, showed that, in terms of degree of perception, footprints (91.4 per cent) were more noticeable than posters (46.3 per cent).
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the non-conclusive research regarding the effectiveness of nudging interventions on stair use in office environments. It clearly shows that perceptibility in combination with a positive attitude towards the nudge leads to a higher degree of initial behavioural change, yet not to a change of mind.
... More specifically, stair use choices might have been influenced by pedestrians' demographics, social pressure, or contextual factors such as pedestrians' traffic, infrastructural elements, and outdoor climate. 9,15,32 As choices were monitored during the busiest time periods and busier traffic is usually associated with higher proportions of stair climbers, 15 the results may reflect the upper bound of potential effects. Therefore, future research should take into account the variance in pedestrians' traffic, for example, by sampling time. ...
Purpose
To evaluate the impact of footprints on stair climbing in different settings.
Design
Interrupted time-series design.
Setting
A company (stair/elevator choice) and a mall (stair/escalator choice).
Participants
Employees (n = 5676) and visitors of the mall (n = 12 623).
Intervention
An intervention comprising 3 consecutive phases was implemented—(1) footprints leading to the stairs were stuck on the floor, (2) a health message referring to the footprints was introduced, and (3) passersby were congratulated for their increased stair use.
Measures
Stair climbing was observed before (ie, baseline), during, and 6 to 13 weeks after (ie, follow-up) the intervention.
Analysis
Proportions of stair climbers were compared using χ² analyses.
Results
The footprints resulted in a closely significant increase in stair climbing in the company (from 27.7% at baseline to 31.2% in phase 1). However, they did not produce any effect in the mall. Introducing a health message yielded an additional 12.4% increase in stair climbing in the company and a significant 11.4% increase in the mall (22.3% in phase 2). Congratulating people did not further increase stair climbing. At follow-up, the proportions of stair climbers dropped but still exceeded baseline.
Conclusion
Footprints tend to increase stair climbing in a worksite setting with a stair/escalator choice but not in a public setting with a stair/elevator choice. Adding a meaningful message seems essential to obtain stronger and longer term effects.
... In architecture practice, there are moves to explore the significance of staircase design in encouraging movement and the improvement of occupant health and wellbeing (for example, NAB workplace, Melbourne 2013), in supporting staff interaction and active movement (for example, Macquarie Group workplace, Sydney 2011), and in inter-floor connectivity and workplace activation (for example The GPT Group workplace, Sydney 2011). In the context of growing interest in active workplace design, this paper contributes to an growing body of research considering stair use in terms of stair location, accessibility and aesthetics (Bassett et al., 2013), with a particular focus on stair convenience and legibility (Nicoll 2007;Jancey et al., forthcoming), stair convenience in relation to elevator availability (Olander and Eves 2011;Nicoll and Zimring 2009) and the interventions around point of decision motivational signs (Bellicha et al., 2015;Dolan et al., 2006;Eves et al., 2012;Grimstvedt et al., 2010;Iversen et al., 2007;Ker et al., 2001;Lee et al., 2012;Ruff et al., 2014). ...
Abstract: This paper reflects on a recent workplace design and physical activity study to argue for a
radical rethinking of staircase design in office buildings. This paper deploys design analysis of three
campus buildings alongside objective physical activity data and survey responses of study participants in
these buildings (n=111) to identify limitations to past and current staircase design approaches. Working
within a social ecological framework, this paper builds on observations of higher education office-based
worker’s physical activity, attitudes to movement at work, and building design. The different approaches
to staircase design from each of the three buildings from three different decades (1970s, 1980s, 1990s)
within the study demonstrate shifts in architectural attitude to circulation design. Two key findings
emerge. Firstly, that current health-focused design guides or staircase design audits do not go far
enough in identifying the social-ecological environment which supports stair use. Secondly, that a
radical rethinking during the design process of staircase design in office buildings may be needed to
support at-work physical activity. This paper is significant in centring architectural design practice as a
way of understanding physical activity behaviours within workplaces and finding ways of extending
contemporary responses to population health dilemmas.
... Lam and Chau [15] according to the variation of pedestrian flow of shopping center in station developed multiple walking facilities control strategy to reduce resource waste. In addition, Olander and Eves [16] and Lewis and Eves [17] analyzed the influence of choice-onpoint prompt on enhancing the use of stairs by pedestrians, from the perspective of human health. ...
In order to overcome the subjectivity of existing pedestrian route choice models, an alternative choice model is presented based on the utility equation. It is composed of several indirectly objective characteristic variables, including the height, length, and width of interlayer facilities; speed of automated facilities; and carry-on luggage. Considering the scene that pedestrians choose between the stairs or escalators, an extended binary logit model is developed. Calibration and validation of the model are accomplished by using the data collected in four typical passenger transfer stations in Beijing, China. The results show that the proposed model has an average accuracy of 86.56% in bidirection for predicting pedestrians' behavior. An interesting phenomenon can be found that the length of facility has poorer impact than height on pedestrians' route choice behavior. Some quantitative and irradiative conclusions have been illustrated on the relationship between the selection probability and the variables, which is expected to be valuable for extracting the implicit theoretical mechanism of passenger choice behavior.
... Since then, other studies have reported higher increases in stair climbing during interventions in worksites Lewis and Eves, 2012a;Olander and Eves, 2011a), suggesting a possible effect in this setting that remains to be more firmly established. Another important characteristic of most stair-use interventions is the use of point-of-decision (POD) prompts (Olander and Eves, 2011b). POD prompts are signs placed close to stairwells or at the base of elevators and escalators, encouraging people to use the stairs (Soler et al., 2010). ...
Objective:
We performed a literature review with the main aims to propose an updated overview of the effectiveness of stair-use interventions and to determine the most effective type of intervention.
Methods:
We systematically searched stair-use interventions performed in worksites or public settings, published up to mid 2013. We used a harvest plot approach to visualize the findings in addition to a quantitative synthesis. We also assessed external validity using the Reach, Efficacy, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework.
Results:
Of 8571 articles identified, 50 were included. In worksites (25 studies) and public settings (35 studies), an increase in stair climbing was found during the intervention period in 64% and 76% of studies, respectively. Combining motivational and directional signs in worksites or conducting a second intervention phase in public settings increased stair climbing in 83% and 86% of studies, respectively. Elements of external validity were overall largely under-reported.
Conclusion:
There is evidence that stair-use interventions are effective to increase stair climbing in public settings, but evidence of such effect is limited in worksites. Issues regarding the best sequencing of interventions or the potential importance of environmental interventions should be addressed in future studies. Process evaluation should be an integral part of interventions.
Introduction
Employees often face barriers to engaging in regular physical activity (PA) during working hours, including lack of time, workloads, and management support, which are some of the noted barriers. This intervention aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of displaying motivational and educational banners near lifts and stairwells in a university setting as a strategy to promote PA.
Methods
This mixed methods intervention involved 103 university employees who were observed as they approached lifts, with subsequent stair use being monitored. The intervention took place in two university buildings, where four large banners (468 × 280 cm) featuring motivational and educational messages were strategically placed near stairwells and lifts.
Results
Significant changes in stair use behaviour were noted, while analysis identified six main themes such as promoting physical activity, motivation, behaviour change, physical benefits, mental benefits and future direction, and several sub-themes related to participants' motivations and experiences. An average the number of floors participants reported climbing were (n = 3) and each floor represented 21 steps. Participants reported physical benefits, such as increased heart rate and leg strengthening, while others noted mental health benefits, including reduced stress, anxiety, and improved confidence.
Discussion and conclusion
This intervention successfully changed participants’ behaviour, with many stating that the banners would positively influence their future stair-use decisions. The findings can inform future interventions related to PA, health, and well-being in various settings, including workplaces and community environments.
This study is exploring the role of Eco-friendly elevators in literature based on an analysis of 113 papers published in scholarly journals drawn from the Scopus database. This is the first study which used a bibliometric analysis to review the academic literature in the elevator system research field. The analysis started with the gradual classification of collected papers according to the multi-objective problem of vertical transportation and a citation analysis. Determining predominant themes and sub-themes was conducted by bibliometric analysis based on the co-occurrence of title words inside bi-dimensional matrix. The obtained results highlighted an emerging research cluster (energy utilization) one of the most important for future elevator system development. This cluster addresses technological advances of elevators and predicts Eco-elevator technologies to be widely used in near future. This research could be very useful to foster in-depth knowledge of Eco-friendly elevators.
Green elevators represent a new standard in all elevator facilities. This paper analyzes all new technologies that need to be applied, and this refers to the energy efficiency of the drive, the use of a different configuration, and the changed components on the elevator. This paper also deals with models that change the classic motion of the elevator and emit low energy consumption. It is of the key importance to show which countries strive to replace all their plants with new configurations and regulations, where the most important fact is to perform an impact assessment on an annual basis. The main goal of this paper is to show that all components designed at the experimental level should be introduced into standard plants and reduce their production cost. From a comprehensive analysis of the previous research, it is concluded that the most significant advantages are achieved by using new electrical schemes, components , and energy sources that are not connected directly to the power distribution grid. At the end, from the corresponding literature, it is concluded that many major manufacturers in the elevator industry have to apply the modern technology from their development centers to existing standard elevators, in order to meet all new ecological and emission standards.
Background: The current college lifestyle create more opportunities for students to develop unhealthy behaviors, especially physical inactivity. Nudging could be an effective tool to improve physical activity behaviors by changing college settings. One-nudge-fits-all leads to ineffective nudges, so it is necessary to develop a reliable and valid instrument capable of measuring the “nudgeability” of physical activity nudges for college students, which is for a higher level of nudge efficacy. Method: Developing the College Physical Activity Nudges Susceptibility Scale (CPANSS) that integrated the nudge method with the Likert scale, which is the first attempt to measure the susceptibility to nudges directly by a scale. There are four steps for developing CPANSS, including Scale Dimensions, Item Generation, Exploratory Factor Analysis (n = 294), and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (n = 293) with appropriate procedures. Results: The five-factor 21-item CPANSS with good reliability and validity fitted the data reasonably well. Conclusion: The CPANSS was to provide a new tool for policymakers to design effective nudges in changing and promoting physical activity in college settings, and to provide a method for scholars to promote other healthy behaviors for different target groups.
The elevator is an indispensable vertical transportation tool in people’s daily life. Its operation performance level is of great importance to the personal safety of passengers. However, elevator performance evaluation is carried out in accordance with some relevant standards and norms at present, and there lacks research on systematic methods for elevator performance evaluation. Therefore, it is of great practical significance and social value to evaluate the performance of elevators. Firstly, this paper establishes an elevator performance evaluation index system by fully analyzing the elevator operation mechanism. The vibration index during elevator operation, the start-stop acceleration index, the noise index, and the door opening and closing speed index are included in the evaluation index system, which can realize a comprehensive performance evaluation of elevators from various aspects. By monitoring the elevator’s operation signal and extracting the time-frequency features, the performance scores of each index are calculated based on analysis of information provided by time-frequency feature parameters. In order to avoid the limitations of a single weighting method, a combination weighting method with the maximum deviation squares sum as the optimization objective is adopted to evaluate the operation performance of elevators. Finally, the effectiveness of proposed method is verified through applying to the evaluation of actual elevator systems. In this paper, an evaluation method combining objective data with subjective experiences of experts is proposed and verified through application to evaluation of elevators with different performance levels. The proposed method is expected to be applied to the actual evaluation and maintenance system to play a positive role in guiding the daily maintenance and condition monitoring of elevators.
The impact of the users’ behavior on the building performance is largely recognized, especially considering most of common building operation and management (O&M) tasks. Predictions of human-building interactions are essential to improve building efficiency by decreasing wastes and costs connected to O&M while satisfying the comfort level required by the occupants. At this regard, building technological systems, which status depends on the users’ movement inside the buildings, like elevators, represent one of the critical spots, especially in high-density buildings. According to a “user-centered” approach, this paper moves toward the assessment of behavioral drivers which can influence the use of elevators in public buildings to define a probability use model useful to set specific maintenance policies. In situ evaluations are performed in a university building, where flows of people are highly dependent on the indoor activities scheduled, as lessons. A multinomial logit model for the probability of elevators’ use is built depending on factors such as: floors number, movement in group, direction (upwards, downwards). Users’ fruition patterns in the university building are detected using eye-tracking techniques and questionnaires. Results show how the elevators’ use probability increases when the number of floors to cross increases, also because of perceived movement comfort, while individuals’ attention is mainly affected by posters and signage systems placed along the way. The model could be implemented in building simulation models, to predict the elevators use during the time under different circumstances, hence to optimize related O&M measures.
People spend more than 90% of their life time in buildings, which makes occupant behavior one of the leading influences of energy consumption in buildings. Occupancy and occupant behavior, which refer to human presence inside buildings and their active interactions with various building system such as lighting, heating, cooling, ventilation, window blinds, and plugs, attract great attention of research with regard to better building design and operation. Due to the stochastic nature of occupant behavior, prior occupancy models vary dramatically in terms of data sampling, spatial and temporal resolution. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the current modeling efforts of occupant behavior, summarizes occupancy models for various applications including building energy performance analysis, building architectural and engineering design, intelligent building operations and building safety design, and presents challenges and areas where future research could be undertaken. In addition, modeling requirement for different applications is analyzed. Furthermore, a few commonly used statistical and data mining models are presented. The purpose of this paper is to provide a modeling reference for future researchers so that a proper method or model can be selected for a specific research purpose.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report on research investigating the relationship between physical activity and workplace design. In particular, the paper explores the social–ecological context of a new workplace building. This paper seeks to understand why better physical activity outcomes for the staff were not observed in the new building despite influence from a staff wellness committee during design; achieving success against existing best-practice indicators; and staff reporting increased feelings of wellness, energy and satisfaction with the new building.
Design/methodology/approach
Three design aspects are taken as a focus from within an opportunistic pre-/post-physical activity study of an organisation as they move from a building they occupied for 30 years into a new purpose-designed building. This study was conducted through mixed methods, incorporating ethnographic, architectural and quantitative means.
Findings
The social, spatial and personal context is important for understanding participant workplace-based physical activity. Despite the health and well-being goals and 5 Star Green Star outcomes of the new building, participants were sedentary for a substantive part of their workday in both buildings.
Practical implications
A well-designed environment can support staff feeling healthier, but the 5 Star Green Star rating does not implicitly ensure a healthier, activity-promoting environment. Facilities managers and designers can act to provide physically active paths as the most straightforward circulation option in workplaces.
Originality/value
The originality of this study lies in the opportunity to conduct a pre-/post-study of physical activity where the organisation, workforce and type of work are constant and where the variable is the building design, spatial configuration and location. The methods used in this study draw from both health promotion and architectural research practices.
The elevator as a vertical transportation has become an important part the people's daily life, work and almost can come into contact with the equipment, safety related to people's life and property safety operation of elevator. This paper use big data to build an elevator Safety Monitoring System, it can provide a useful accident early warning about the elevator, This article opened up some new thoughts in the research of the elevator Safety Monitoring.
This report presents a multi-variable decisionmaking model that supports a choice between two possible types of behavior. It is assumed that the decision is based on external factors such as environmental states or time, and also on internal or self-inflicted factors, such as personal preferences, limitations and subjective norms of the decision-maker. The mathematical model is illustrated using the well-known elevator-stairs dilemma, where a person is deciding whether to go by stairs or to use the elevator. The suggested model provides a general outline for different problem sets where a dichotomous decision has to be made. In particular, it can provide an effective solution to the multi-agent signaling/donating problem, where agents collaborate by requesting for help from other agents, and, consequently, by donating according to the received requests.
Stairway and escalator are the main transfer facilities in the station
where pedestrians make choices between them. A good understanding of
pedestrian choices is helpful to raise the efficiency of transfer
stations and lower the probability of disasters, such as stamps caused
by congestion. This paper studies the choice behavior of pedestrians
using random utility theory and floor field cellular automata. Among the
factors influencing pedestrian choices, there are non-quantitative ones
and quantitative ones. Thus, a method combining qualitative description
and quantitative description is adopted. Subsequently, a logit model is
presented to mimic the choice behaviors of pedestrians. In this model,
there are three new important parameters, including familiarity, walking
disutility, and time pressure. By using micro-simulation, a sensitivity
analysis for these parameters is conducted. Besides, a counting rule
based on the Large Number Law is presented to count the real data in
transfer stations in Shanghai. After comparing the sensitivity analysis
results and measurement data, several reference values of the three
important parameters are obtained in un-congested and congested
situations respectively.
Despite its obvious advantages, few studies have examined health outcomes of regular stariclimbing. In this study, we investigated the training effects of eight weeks of stairclimbing on recognised measures of health-related fitness in an occupational setting. Forty-five public sector employees (22 male, 23 female) aged 42.3 ± 9.0 years were randomly assigned to control (n = 16) or stairclimbing (n = 29) groups. Stairclimbing training began with 1 bout 5d·wk(-1) in week 1, increasing by one climb per day every two weeks until week 5, where a maintenance level of 3 climbs per day was reached. Participants climbed on staircases located within an 8 storey office block, consisting of 145 steps. The prescribed exercise intensity involved climbing the 8 flights of stairs at a rate of 75 steps·min(-1). All participants agreed not to change their diet or lifestyle over the experimental period. Relative to controls, the stairclimbing group showed a significant increase of 9.4% in predicted VO2max (p < 0. 05). No significant changes in blood pressure, blood lipid concentrations or body composition were noted. These findings provide evidence that stairclimbing can enhance an important component of health-related fitness, namely cardiovascular fitness. Given that such improvement resulted from less than 30 minutes per week of moderate exercise, stairclimbing in the workplace should be promoted as a health-enhancing physical activity. Key pointsLow volumes of stairclimbing significantly increased a key component of cardiorespiratory fitness, namely VO2max.Stairclimbing can therefore be promoted within the typical urban workplace as a health enhancing activity.Indices of morphological or metabolic fitness may require larger volumes of stairclimbing than as prescribed in the current study.
Background:
Accumulation of lifestyle physical activity is a current aim of health promotion, with increased stair climbing one public health target. While the workplace provides an opportunity for regular stair climbing, evidence for effectiveness of point-of-choice interventions is equivocal. This paper reports a new approach to worksite interventions, aimed at changing attitudes and, hence, behaviour.
Methods:
Pre-testing of calorific expenditure messages used structured interviews with members of the public (n = 300). Effects of multi-component campaigns on stair climbing were tested with quasi-experimental, interrupted time-series designs. In one worksite, a main campaign poster outlining the amount of calorific expenditure obtainable from stair climbing and a conventional point-of-choice prompt were used (Poster alone site). In a second worksite, additional messages in the stairwell about calorific expenditure reinforced the main campaign (Poster + Stairwell messages site). The outcome variables were automated observations of stair and lift ascent (28,854) and descent (29,352) at baseline and for three weeks after the intervention was installed. Post-intervention questionnaires for employees at the worksites assessed responses to the campaign (n = 253). Analyses employed Analysis of Variance with follow-up Bonferroni t-tests (message pre-testing), logistic regression of stair ascent and descent (campaign testing), and Bonferroni t-tests and multiple regression (follow-up questionnaire).
Results:
Pre-testing of messages based on calorific expenditure suggested they could motivate stair climbing if believed. The new campaign increased stair climbing, with greater effects at the Poster + Stairwell messages site (OR = 1.52, 95% CI = 1.40-1.66) than Posters alone (OR = 1.24, 95% CI = 1.15-1.34). Follow-up revealed higher agreement with two statements about calorific outcomes of stair climbing in the site where they were installed in the stairwell, suggesting more positive attitudes resulted from the intervention. Future intentions for stair use were predicted by motivation by the campaign and beliefs that stair climbing would help weight control.
Conclusions:
Multi-component campaigns that target attitudes and intentions may substantially increase stair climbing at work.
In 2000, the Guide to Community Preventive Services (Community Guide) completed a systematic review of the effectiveness of various approaches to increasing physical activity including informational, behavioral and social, and environmental and policy approaches. Among these approaches was the use of signs placed by elevators and escalators to encourage stair use. This approach was found to be effective based on sufficient evidence. Over the past 5 years the body of evidence of this intervention has increased substantially, warranting an updated review. This update was conducted on 16 peer-reviewed studies (including the six studies in the previous systematic review), which met specified quality criteria and included evaluation outcomes of interest. These studies evaluated two interventions: point-of-decision prompts to increase stair use and enhancements to stairs or stairwells (e.g., painting walls, laying carpet, adding artwork, playing music) when combined with point-of-decision prompts to increase stair use. This latter intervention was not included in the original systematic review. According to the Community Guide rules of evidence, there is strong evidence that point-of-decision prompts are effective in increasing the use of stairs. There is insufficient evidence, due to an inadequate number of studies, to determine whether or not enhancements to stairs or stairwells are an effective addition to point-of-decision prompts. This article describes the rationale for these systematic reviews, along with information about the review process and the resulting conclusions. Additional information about applicability, other effects, and barriers to implementation is also provided.
Purpose
The current study compared two interventions for promotion of stair climbing in the workplace, an information-based intervention at a health information day and an environmental intervention (point-of-choice prompts), for their effectiveness in changing stair climbing and cost per employee.
Design
Interrupted time-series design.
Setting
Four buildings on a university campus.
Subjects
Employees at a university in the United Kingdom.
Interventions
Two stair-climbing interventions were compared: (1) a stand providing information on stair climbing at a health information day and (2) point-of-choice prompts (posters).
Measures
Observers recorded employees' gender and method of ascent (n = 4279). The cost of the two interventions was calculated.
Analysis
Logistic regression.
Results
There was no significant difference between baseline (47.9% stair climbing) and the Workplace Wellbeing Day (48.8% stair climbing), whereas the prompts increased stair climbing (52.6% stair climbing). The health information day and point-of-choice prompts cost 31.38, respectively.
Conclusion
The stand at the health information day was more expensive than the point-of-choice prompts and was inferior in promoting stair climbing. It is likely that the stand was unable to encourage stair climbing because only 3.2% of targeted employees visited the stand. In contrast, the point-of-choice prompts were potentially visible to all employees using the buildings and hence better for disseminating the stair climbing message to the target audience. (Am J Health Promot 2011;25[4]:231–236.)
Population strategies to increase physical activity are an essential part of cardiovascular disease prevention. However, little data exist on lifestyle interventions that are easy to integrate into everyday life such as using stairs instead of elevators at the workplace.
Pre and postintervention study.
A 12-week promotional campaign for stair use consisting in posters and floor stickers at the point of choice between stairs and elevators at each hospital floor was organized in a university hospital building. In 77 selected employees with an inactive lifestyle, physical activity, aerobic fitness, anthropometrics, blood pressure, lipids, insulin sensitivity, and C-reactive protein were assessed at baseline, 12 weeks, and 6 months.
During the intervention median daily number of ascended and descended one-story staircase units was 20.6/day (14.2-28.1) compared with 4.5/day (1.8-7.2) at baseline (P<0.001). At 12 weeks, estimated maximal aerobic capacity had increased by 9.2±15.1% (P<0.001) corresponding with approximately 1 MET. There were significant declines in waist circumference (-1.7±2.9%), weight (-0.7±2.6%), fat mass (-1.5±8.4%), diastolic blood pressure (-1.8±8.9%), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (-3.0±13.5%). At 6 months, the median daily number of ascended and descended one-story staircase units had decreased to 7.2 (3.5-14.0). Benefits on estimated maximal aerobic capacity (+5.9±12.2%, P=0.001) and fat mass (-1.4±8.4%, P=0.038) persisted.
Encouraging stair use at work is effective for improving fitness, body composition, blood pressure, and lipid profile in asymptomatic individuals with an inactive lifestyle and thus may be a simple way to significantly reduce cardiovascular disease risk at the population level.
This study assessed the impact on stair use of improving the attractiveness of a stairwell.
Observations of stair usage were made in a university building during baseline, 2 interventions, and follow-up. The first intervention involved signs; the second intervention added artwork and music in the stairwell.
More participants used the stairs during the music and artwork intervention than at baseline or when signs alone were used.
Improving the aesthetic qualities of a stairwell can increase rates of stair usage in a public building. Designs for buildings should take accessibility and aesthetic issues into consideration.
This study aimed to evaluate whether a stair-promoting signed intervention could increase the use of the stairs over the elevator in a health-care facility. A time-series design was conducted over 12 weeks. Data were collected before, during and after displaying a signed intervention during weeks 4-5 and 8-9. Evaluation included anonymous counts recorded by an objective unobtrusive motion-sensing device of people entering the elevator or the stairs. Self-report data on stair use by hospital staff were also collected. Stair use significantly increased after the first intervention phase (P = 0.02), but after the intervention was removed stair use decreased back towards baseline levels. Moreover, stair use did not significantly change after the re-introduction of the intervention. Lastly, stair use decreased below the initial baseline level during the final weeks of evaluation. Furthermore, there was no significant change in self-reported stair use by hospital staff. Therefore, the signed intervention aimed at promoting an increase in incidental physical activity produced small brief effects, which were not maintained. Further research is required to find more effective 'point of choice' interventions to increase incidental physical activity participation with more sustainable impact.
This study sought to examine individual, social environmental, and physical environmental correlates of walking.
A cross-sectional survey was conducted among healthy workers and homemakers residing in metropolitan Perth, Western Australia.
Most respondents walked for transport or recreation, but only 17.2% did a sufficient amount of walking to accrue health benefits. After adjustment, the relative influences of individual, social environmental, and physical environmental factors were found to be almost equally important.
Although walking is popular, few people do enough walking to benefit their health. Those who walk as well as engage in other physical activities appear more likely to achieve recommended levels of activity. Promoting walking may require a comprehensive strategy.
Some claim that cardependent cities contribute to obesity by discouraging walking and bicycling. In this article, we use household activity data from the San Francisco region to study the links between urban environments and nonmotorized travel.
We used factor analysis to represent the urban design and land-use diversity dimensions of built environments. Combining factor scores with control variables, like steep terrain, that gauge impediments to walking and bicycling, we estimated discrete-choice models. Builtenvironment factors exerted far weaker, although not inconsequential, influences on walking and bicycling than control variables.
Stronger evidence on the importance of urban landscapes in shaping foot and bicycle travel is needed if the urban planning and public health professions are to forge an effective alliance against cardependent sprawl.
Purpose
This study assessed the impact on stair use of four sequential environmental interventions: (1) installing new carpet and painting the walls, (2) adding framed artwork on stair landings, (3) displaying motivational signs throughout the building, and (4) adding a stereo system and playing various types of music in the stairwell.
Methods
We conducted a longitudinal study with no comparison group to evaluate the impact of environmental changes on stairway use. The setting was the main stairwell in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Rhodes Building in Atlanta, Georgia. Proximity sensors were installed in each stairwell entry to monitor traffic. The subjects were 554 permanent CDC employees and 110 temporary employees. Changes in stairwell use by intervention were evaluated.
Results
Both motivational signs and music significantly increased stair use by 8.9% over baseline (p < .05). The increase in sign use occurred in the first 3 months of the intervention, whereas the increase in music occurred after the first 3 months.
Discussion
These data suggest that physical improvements to a stairwell, signage that encourages stair use, and music may increase physical activity among building occupants.
Message banners attached to stair risers produced a significant increase in pedestrian stair use, exceeding effects previously reported for conventional posters. Multiple instances of the same message banner, however, were as effective as banners featuring different messages. Therefore, greater visibility, rather than message variety, appears to account for the superiority of the banner format. Our findings indicate the feasibility of simple stair-use promotion campaigns based around the repetition of a single message.
To study the training effects of eight weeks of stair climbing on Vo2max, blood lipids, and homocysteine in sedentary, but otherwise healthy young women.
Fifteen women (mean (SD) age 18.8 (0.7) years) were randomly assigned to control (n = 7) or stair climbing (n = 8) groups. Stair climbing was progressively increased from one ascent a day in week 1 to five ascents a day in weeks 7 and 8. Training took place five days a week on a public access staircase (199 steps), at a stepping rate of 90 steps a minute. Each ascent took about two minutes to complete. Subjects agreed not to change their diet or lifestyle over the experimental period.
Relative to controls, the stair climbing group displayed a 17.1% increase in Vo2max and a 7.7% reduction in low density lipoprotein cholesterol (p < 0.05) over the training period. No change occurred in total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, or homocysteine.
The study confirms that accumulating short bouts of stair climbing activity throughout the day can favourably alter important cardiovascular risk factors in previously sedentary young women. Such exercise may be easily incorporated into the working day and therefore should be promoted by public health guidelines.
The thesis of this article is that multilevel interventions based on ecological models and targeting individuals, social environments, physical environments, and policies must be implemented to achieve population change in physical activity. A model is proposed that identifies potential environmental and policy influences on four domains of active living: recreation, transport, occupation, and household. Multilevel research and interventions require multiple disciplines to combine concepts and methods to create new transdisciplinary approaches. The contributions being made by a broad range of disciplines are summarized. Research to date supports a conclusion that there are multiple levels of influence on physical activity, and the active living domains are associated with different environmental variables. Continued research is needed to provide detailed findings that can inform improved designs of communities, transportation systems, and recreation facilities. Collaborations with policy researchers may improve the likelihood of translating research findings into changes in environments, policies, and practices.
Increases in lifestyle physical activity are a current public health target. Interventions that encourage pedestrians to choose the stairs rather than the escalator are uniformly successful in English speaking populations. Here we report the first test of a similar intervention in a non-English speaking sample, namely the Hong Kong Chinese.
Travellers on the Mid-Levels escalator system in Hong Kong were encouraged to take the stairs for their health by a point-of-choice prompt with text in Chinese positioned at the junction between the stairs and the travelator. Gender, age, ethnic origin, and walking on the travelator were coded by observers. A 2 week intervention period followed 2 weeks of baseline monitoring with 57 801 choices coded. Specificity of the intervention was determined by contrasting effects in Asian and non-Asian travellers.
There was no effect of the intervention on stair climbing and baseline rates (0.4%) were much lower than previous studies in Western populations (5.4%). Nonetheless, a modest increase in walking up the travelator, confined to the Asian population (OR = 1.12), confirmed that the intervention materials could change behaviour.
It would be unwise to assume that lifestyle physical activity interventions have universal application. The contexts in which the behaviours occur, e.g. climate, may act as a barrier to successful behaviour change.
Purpose
This study evaluated the effect of behavioral modeling and social factors promoting stair use.
Design
Alternating baseline and intervention phase experimental design.
Setting
San Diego International Airport, San Diego, California.
Subjects
Stair use was coded for 15,574 filmed participants.
Intervention
This study compared the effects of three types of behavioral modeling: natural models (i.e., passersby), single experimental model (i.e., confederate), and confederate model pairs providing verbal prompts.
Measures
Variables were coded based on systematic observation of videotapes, including demographics, day and time, and the following indicators of physical and social reinforcement contingencies: dress, luggage, children, social group, and speed. Reliability ranged from .64 to .88.
Analysis
Bivariate and logistic regression models stratified by gender.
Results
Stair use increased over baseline by 102.6% with no model present and by 61.8% in the presence of natural models for men and women (p < .001). Controlling for multiple covariates, the odds ratios for stair use ranged from 1.76 to 2.93 for men and from 1.82 to 2.54 for women across the levels with natural and confederate models present (all p < .001).
Conclusion
Modeling can prompt stair use, and findings for social and environmental reinforcement contingencies support the Behavioral Ecological Model. Modeling may explain partial maintenance of stair use in public areas after removal of prompts (e.g., signs, banners). Results inform interventions for increasing physical activity as part of daily routines.
Purpose
Although stair use in workplaces can provide an accessible means of integrating physical activity into work routines, there is little information available on how building design influences stair use.
Design
This cross-sectional study assessed the relationship between stair use and the design and location of stairs.
Setting
Ten three- or four-story academic buildings on two university campuses.
Sample
The buildings contained a total of 38 stairs and 12 elevators.
Measures
Stair use was measured using infrared monitors. Eighteen environmental variables that operationalized the appeal, convenience, comfort, legibility, and safety of stairs were measured.
Results
Regression analysis identified eight spatial variables associated with stair use: travel distances from stair to nearest entrance and the elevator, effective area or occupant load of each stair, accessibility of each stair, area of stair isovist (a graphic representation of the horizontal extent of a person's visual field from a specific point of reference within a building floor plan), number of turns required for travel from the stair to closest entrance, and the most integrated path (MIP). Three variables (effective area, area of stair isovist, and number of turns for travel from the MIP), explained 53% of stair use in the 10 buildings. Most variables operationalizing the appeal, comfort, and safety of stairs were not statistically influential.
Conclusions
This study suggests that the spatial qualities that optimize the convenience and legibility of stairs may have the most influence on stair use in buildings.
Purpose
Studies report a significant increase in stair use when message prompts are introduced at the “point of choice” between stairs and escalators. Climbing one set of stairs, however, will not confer meaningful health dividends. Therefore, this study examined whether exposure to point of choice prompts also encouraged individuals to climb the next set of stairs that they encountered.
Design
Interrupted time-series design.
Settings
Two separate stair/escalator pairings within a U.K. shopping mall (the “intervention” site and the “generalization” site), separated by a 25-m long atrium.
Subjects
Ascending pedestrians (intervention site n = 29,713; generalization site n = 47,553).
Interventions
Two weeks of baseline monitoring were followed by a 13-week intervention in which banners carrying health promotion messages were introduced at the intervention site only.
Measures
At both sites observers inconspicuously recorded pedestrians' methods of ascent, along with their gender, age, ethnicity, and baggage.
Results
Banners increased stair climbing at the intervention site by 161%. Results also suggested a simultaneous increase of up to 143% at the generalization site, where no prompt was in place. At both sites stair use remained significantly elevated 5 weeks after the banners were removed.
Conclusions
It appears that exposure to point of choice prompts can encourage pedestrians to climb stairs when they are encountered in a subsequent setting. Consequently stair-climbing interventions are likely to engage the public in more physical activity than previously realized.
Objectives: Health promotion agencies advocate use of mountain climbing goals to encourage regular stair climbing, a current public health target. This paper tests effects of a mountain climbing campaign on objective measures of stair use for the first time. Design: Field interview and quasi-experimental, interrupted time-series study. Method: In field interviews, a convenience sample (n = 1350) responded to questions about different goals, i.e., heights of climb, to encourage stair use in buildings. Subsequently, a point-of-choice intervention with the main message 'Take the stairs to the top of this building once a day and in a year, you would have climbed Mount Everest almost twice' was tested in a 12-floor worksite. A no-message baseline was followed by installation of the intervention. Results: Stair ascent (n = 62,716) and descent (n = 61,218) at the ground floor was measured with automated counters at baseline (11 days) and during the intervention (18 days). The majority of interviewees (60%) chose a message based on climbing Mt. Everest as the most motivating, with only 5% of interviewees not motivated by any climbing goal. Nonetheless, the subsequent intervention using the mountain climbing goal had no effect on stair climbing (OR = 0.96). As the campaign specifically targeted stair ascent, it failed to influence the behaviour with the greater public health dividend. Conclusion: The discrepancy between pre-testing and the campaign may reflect the fact that performance goals can only be achieved at the end of the task and may not be continually rewarded during accumulation of behaviour towards the goal.
Accumulation of physical activity during daily living is a current public health target that is influenced by the layout of the built environment. This study reports how the layout of the environment may influence responsiveness to an intervention. Pedestrian choices between stairs and the adjacent escalators were monitored for 7 weeks in a train station (Birmingham, UK). After a 3.5 week baseline period, a stair riser banner intervention to increase stair climbing was installed on two staircases adjacent to escalators and monitoring continued for a further 3.5 weeks. Logistic regression analyses revealed that the visibility of the intervention, defined as the area of visibility in the horizontal plane opposite to the direction of travel (termed the isovist) had a major effect on success of the intervention. Only the largest isovist produced an increase in stair climbing. Additionally, stair climbing was more common during the morning rush hour and at higher levels of pedestrian traffic volume. The layout of the intervention site can influence responsiveness to point-of-choice interventions. Changes to the design of train stations may maximize the choice of the stairs at the expense of the escalator by pedestrians leaving the station.
Background:
To effectively promote physical activIty, researchers and policy makers have advocated for greater use of environmental approaches, such as the construction of community paths and trails. However, research on the use of these facilities is limited.
Methods:
In this cross-sectional community study, we examined associations between self-reported and objective physical environmental variables and use of the Minuteman Bikeway (Arlington, MA) in a random sample of 413 adults. Sociodemographic and perceived environmental variables were measured with a mail survey during September 1998. Geographic information system (GIS) data were used to geocode survey respondents' homes and create three objective environmental variables: distance to the Bikeway, steep hill barrier, and a busy street barrier.
Results:
In logistic models, age and female gender showed statistically significant inverse associations with Bikeway use over the previous 4-week period. Increases in self-reported (OR = 0.65) and GIS distance (OR = 0.57) were associated with decreased likelihood of Bikeway use. Absence of self-reported busy street (OR = 2.01) and GIS steep hill barriers (OR = 1.84) were associated with Bikeway use.
Conclusions:
Environmental barriers such as travel distance and hilly terrain should be considered when planning community trails. A better understanding of such factors may lead to more effective promotion of trail use.
Background:
The presence and mix of destinations is an important aspect of the built environment that may encourage or discourage physical activity. This study examined the association between the proximity and mix of neighbourhood destinations and physical activity.
Methods:
Secondary analysis was undertaken on physical activity data from Western Australian adults (n=1394). These data were linked with geographical information systems (GIS) data including the presence and the mix of destinations located within 400 and 1500 m from respondents' homes. Associations with walking for transport and recreation and vigorous physical activity were examined.
Results:
Access to post boxes, bus stops, convenience stores, newsagencies, shopping malls, and transit stations within 400 m (OR 1.63-5.00) and schools, transit stations, newsagencies, convenience stores and shopping malls within 1500 m (OR 1.75-2.38) was associated with participation in regular transport-related walking. A dose-response relationship between the mix of destinations and walking for transport was also found. Each additional destination within 400 and 1500 m resulted in an additional 12 and 11 min/fortnight spent walking for transport, respectively.
Conclusion:
Proximity and mix of destinations appears strongly associated with walking for transport, but not walking for recreation or vigorous activity. Increasing the diversity of destinations may contribute to adults doing more transport-related walking and achieving recommended levels of physical activity.
Previous research has found that poster prompts are associated with significant increases in stair use. The present study examined the use of messages on the stair risers, as an alternative to posters, to encourage stair climbing. Observers monitored shoppers' stair and escalator use over a 2-week baseline and 6-week intervention period. The prevalence of stair use increased from a baseline value of 8.1 percent to 18.3 percent when the motivating messages were in place. This increase is greater than that found in studies that used poster prompts in shopping centre venues. The apparent advantage of stair-riser banners is discussed in terms of their visibility and attractiveness, as well as their capacity to present multiple messages likely to appeal to a broader constituency. It is concluded that promoters of physical activity should use colourful, tailored stair-riser banners, rather than posters, to encourage stair climbing.
Stair climbing can be a low-cost and relatively accessible way to add everyday physical activity, but many building stairwells are inaccessible or unpleasant and elevators are far more convenient. This study explores the use of and attitude toward stairs in an innovative office building where the main elevators for able-bodied users stop only at every third floor ("skip-stop" elevators). These users are expected to walk up or down nearby stairs that have been made open and appealing ("skip-stop" stairs). The study takes advantage of a natural experiment. Some workers' offices were clustered around the skip-stop elevator and the stairs, whereas others had access to a traditional elevator core, that is, an elevator that stopped at each floor with nearby fire exit stairs. Stair use on the open skip-stop stairs and enclosed fire stairs was measured using infrared monitors and card-reader activity logs. An online survey of employees (N=299, a 17.4% response rate) gathered information on stair use and attitudes and behaviors toward physical activity; interviews with key personnel identified major implementation issues. The skip-stop stair was used 33 times more than the enclosed stair of the traditional elevator core, with 72% of survey participants reporting daily stair use. Although implementation issues related to organizational objectives, costs, security, barrier-free accessibility, and building codes exist, the skip-stop feature offers a successful strategy for increasing stair use in workplaces.
This intervention promoted stair use among people attending the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) annual meeting.
All attendees using the stairs or escalators in the main lobby were unobtrusively observed for 3 days and coded for activity choices to get to the second floor. During day 2, a prominent sign stating "Be a role model. Use the stairs!" encouraged pointof- choice decisions favoring stairs over the escalator. The sign was removed on day 3.
16,978 observations were made. Stair use increased from 22.0% on day 1 to 29.3% and 26.8% on days 2 and 3, respectively (P values < .001). Active choices (stair use or walk up escalator) increased from 28.3% on day 1 to 40.1% and 40.2% on subsequent days. Analyses were similar after adjustment for gender, estimated age category, and race.
Relatively few conference attendees were persuaded to model stair-use behavior. Health professionals should be encouraged to be "active living" role models.
We investigated whether individuals mimic the stair/escalator choices of preceding pedestrians. Our methodology sought to separate cases where the 'model' and 'follower' were acquaintances or strangers.
Natural experiment.
Infrared monitors provided a second-by-second log of when pedestrians ascended adjacent stairs/escalators in a mall. Manual timings established that stair climbers spent ≥ 7 s on ascent, during which time they could act as models to following pedestrians. Thus, individuals who mounted the stairs/escalator ≤ 7 s after the previous stair climber were assigned to a 'stair model' condition. A 'no stair model' condition comprised individuals with a gap to the previous stair climber of ≥ 60 s. The stair model condition was subdivided, depending if the gap between model and follower was 1-2 s or 3-7 s. It was hypothesized that the former cohort may know the model.
Percentage stair climbing was significantly higher in the 'stair model' versus 'no stair model' condition (odds ratio [OR]= 2.08). Subgroup analyses showed greater effects in the '1-2 s' cohort (OR = 3.33) than the '3-7 s' cohort (OR = 1.39).
Individuals appear to mimic the stair/escalator choices of fellow pedestrians, with more modest effects between strangers. People exposed to message prompts at stair/escalator sites are known to take the stairs unprompted in subsequent situations. Our results suggest that these individuals could recruit a second generation of stair climbers via mimicry. Additionally, some of the immediate behavioural effects observed in interventions may be a product of mimicry, rather than a direct effect of the messages themselves.
In 2000, the Guide to Community Preventive Services (Community Guide) completed a systematic review of the effectiveness of various approaches to increasing physical activity including informational, behavioral and social, and environmental and policy approaches. Among these approaches was the use of signs placed by elevators and escalators to encourage stair use. This approach was found to be effective based on sufficient evidence. Over the past 5 years the body of evidence of this intervention has increased substantially, warranting an updated review. This update was conducted on 16 peer-reviewed studies (including the six studies in the previous systematic review), which met specified quality criteria and included evaluation outcomes of interest. These studies evaluated two interventions: point-of-decision prompts to increase stair use and enhancements to stairs or stairwells (e.g., painting walls, laying carpet, adding artwork, playing music) when combined with point-of-decision prompts to increase stair use. This latter intervention was not included in the original systematic review.According to the Community Guide rules of evidence, there is strong evidence that point-of-decision prompts are effective in increasing the use of stairs. There is insufficient evidence, due to an inadequate number of studies, to determine whether or not enhancements to stairs or stairwells are an effective addition to point-of-decision prompts. This article describes the rationale for these systematic reviews, along with information about the review process and the resulting conclusions. Additional information about applicability, other effects, and barriers to implementation is also provided.
Physically inactive lifestyles are a major public health challenge, and research in the transportation field on influences on the choice to walk and bike may provide guidance toward solutions. In the interests of promoting effective collaboration among the transportation, planning, and health fields, the current paper was written to fulfill three purposes. The first purpose was to summarize the transportation and planning studies on the relation between community design and non-motorized ("active") transport and to interpret these studies from a health perspective. The second purpose was to summarize studies from the health literature that examine the relation between physical environmental variables and leisure-time physical activity that have relevance for transportation research. The third purpose was to promote more collaboration among transportation, planning, and health investigators by identifying opportunities for transdisciplinary research.
Point-of-choice prompts to use the stairs rather than the escalator consistently increase physical activity at public access staircases such as those in shopping malls. More recently, exercise promoters have targeted stair climbing in the worksite. A review of interventions in worksites reveals little hard evidence of successful increases in stair climbing, though the increases in stair usage are encouraging. The contrast between the worksites and public access staircases, however, is not simply one of location. In a worksite, the choice is between the stairs and an elevator rather than an escalator. We reason that the availability of the elevator or the stairwell may be the major immediate determinant of stair climbing in worksites and dilute any possible effects of an intervention.
The effects of two different procedures for reducing elevator energy use were assessed using a multiple‐baseline design. In the first procedure, feedback about the amount of energy consumed by the elevators each week was posted on each elevator door. Later, signs advocating the use of stairs to save energy and improve health were posted next to the feedback signs. In the second procedure, the time required to travel between floors was increased by adding a delay to the elevator door closing mechanisms. Results indicated that neither feedback alone nor feedback plus educational signs reduced the amount of energy consumed by the elevators. However, use of the door delay reduced consumption by one‐third in all elevators.
A second experiment replicated the effect of the door delay on energy consumption and, in addition, demonstrated that the door delay also produced a reduction in the number of persons using the elevator. The second experiment also showed that, following an initial period during which a full delay was in effect, a gradual reduction of the delay interval resulted in continued energy conservation. Reduced convenience as a general strategy for energy conservation is discussed.
Stair climbing is a lifestyle physical activity that uses more calories per minute than jogging. This study tested an intervention designed to promote stair climbing in a workplace. Because previous studies provide only equivocal evidence of the effects of increased stair climbing in worksites, a formal comparison of the effects of the intervention on stair ascent and descent was made.
In a five-story public sector building, a 2-week baseline was followed by 6 weeks of an intervention involving a 23(1/2)- x 16(1/2)-inch poster in the lobby, the same poster and six messages affixed to the stair risers between floors, and an 11(3/4)- x 8(1/4)-inch point-of-choice prompt at the elevators. Stair and elevator choices (n = 26,806) were videotaped throughout and subsequently coded for direction of travel, traveler's sex, and traveler's load. Weight status was coded using silhouettes beside the computer monitor.
A significant effect of the intervention on stair climbing was greater in those coded as overweight (+5.4%; odds ratio = 1.33) than in individuals of normal weight (+2.5%; odds ratio = 1.12). Although stair descent was more common than ascent, the intervention had similar effects for both directions of travel.
Stair climbing at work has few barriers and seems to be a type of physical activity that is acceptable to overweight individuals. The relatively weak effect of workplace interventions compared with results for public access staircases may reflect uncontrolled effects such as the immediate availability of the elevator for the traveler.
Evidence documents associations between neighborhood design and active and sedentary forms of travel. Most studies compare travel patterns for people located in different types of neighborhoods at one point in time adjusting for demographics. Most fail to account for either underlying neighborhood selection factors (reasons for choosing a neighborhood) or preferences (neighborhoods that are preferred) that impact neighborhood selection and behavior. Known as self-selection, this issue makes it difficult to evaluate causation among built form, behavior, and associated outcomes and to know how much more walking and less driving could occur through creating environments conducive to active transport. The current study controls for neighborhood selection and preference and isolates the effect of the built environment on walking, car use, and obesity. Separate analyses were conducted among 2056 persons in the Atlanta, USA based Strategies for Metropolitan Atlanta's Regional Transportation and Air Quality (SMARTRAQ) travel survey on selection factors and 1466 persons in the SMARTRAQ community preference sub-survey. A significant proportion of the population are "mismatched" and do not live in their preferred neighborhood type. Factors influencing neighborhood selection and individual preferences, and current neighborhood walkability explained vehicle travel distance after controlling for demographic variables. Individuals who preferred and lived in a walkable neighborhood walked most (33.9% walked) and drove 25.8 miles per day on average. Individuals that preferred and lived in car dependent neighborhoods drove the most (43 miles per day) and walked the least (3.3%). Individuals that do not prefer a walkable environment walked little and show no change in obesity prevalence regardless of where they live. About half as many participants were obese (11.7%) who prefer and live in walkable environments than participants who prefer car dependent environments (21.6%). Findings suggest that creating walkable environments may result in higher levels of physical activity and less driving and in slightly lower obesity prevalence for those preferring walkability.
Stair-riser banners are twice as effective as posters in encouraging stair climbing in shopping centres. This study tested the effectiveness of stair-riser banners in an English train station in 2006-2007.
The train station had a 39-step staircase and an adjacent escalator. Baseline observations (3.5 weeks) were followed by 10.5 weeks of a banner intervention supplemented with 3 weeks of a poster intervention. Both poster and banner featured the message 'Stair climbing burns more calories per minute than jogging. Take the stairs'. Ascending escalator and stair users (N=36,239) were coded for gender.
Analyses, controlling for effects of gender and pedestrian traffic volume, revealed no significant change in stair climbing between baseline (40.6%) and the banner intervention (40.9%; p=0.98). Addition of the poster increased stair climbing (44.3%; OR=1.36, 95% CIs 1.16-1.60, p<0.001), with the effect reduced at higher pedestrian traffic volumes.
While stair-riser banners had no effect, the poster intervention increased stair climbing. The high pedestrian volumes as the wave of disembarking passengers seek to leave the station would have obscured the visibility of the banner for many commuters. Thus stair-riser banners appear unsuitable point-of-choice prompts in stations where pedestrian traffic volume is high.
Commuters leaving a station often choose the stair as a quicker exit than the escalator. This paper models the effects of speed leaving the station and stair width on choice of the stairs or escalator.
Aggregated data from previous studies (n=82,347) revealed a plateau at about 45% stair use as the number leaving each train rose. Subsequently, the time taken by passengers on the stairs and escalator was measured in a station in Birmingham, UK in 2007 (n=5848). The resulting transport rates (passengers s(-1)) for stairs and escalators at the average commuting traffic were used to estimate the effects of increases in stair width on choice of the stairs.
Average transport rates were higher for the escalator (0.93+/-0.33 passengers s(-1)) than the stairs (0.58+/-0.24 passengers s(-1)). Modelling of the effects of transport rate with multiple regression suggested 40.1% of passengers would use the stairs, a figure close to the observed rate. Using similar calculations, a doubling of width of the stairs could result maximally in a 17.2% increase in stair use.
Changes to the width of stairs could produce a permanent increase in lifestyle physical activity immune to the effects of time on healthy intentions.
Increased lifestyle physical activity, for instance, use of active transport, is a current public health target. Active transport interventions that target stair climbing are consistently successful in English-speaking populations yet unsuccessful in Hong Kong. We report two further studies on active transport in the Hong Kong Chinese.
Pedestrians on a mass transit escalator system (study 1) and in an air-conditioned shopping mall (study 2) were encouraged to take the stairs for their cardiovascular health by point-of-choice prompts. Observers coded sex, age, and walking on the mass transit system, with the additional variables of presence of children and bags coded in the shopping mall. In the first study, a 1-wk baseline was followed by 4 wk of intervention (N = 76,710) whereas in the second study (shopping mall) a 2-wk baseline was followed by a 2-wk intervention period (N = 18,257).
A small but significant increase in stair climbing (+0.29%) on the mass transit system contrasted with no significant changes in the shopping mall (+0.09%). The active transport of walking on the mass transit system was reduced at higher rates of humidity and temperature, with steeper slopes for the effects of climate variables in men than in women.
These studies confirm that lifestyle physical activity interventions do not have universal application. The context in which the behavior occurs (e.g., climate) may act as a barrier to active transport.
The past decade has seen a dramatic increase in empirical investigation into the relations between built environment and physical activity. To create places that facilitate and encourage walking, practitioners need an understanding of the specific characteristics of the built environment that correlate most strongly with walking. This article reviews evidence on the built environment correlates with walking.
Included in this review were 13 reviews published between 2002 and 2006 and 29 original studies published in 2005 and up through May 2006. Results were summarized based on specific characteristics of the built environment and transportation walking versus recreational walking.
Previous reviews and newer studies document consistent positive relations between walking for transportation and density, distance to nonresidential destinations, and land use mix; findings for route/network connectivity, parks and open space, and personal safety are more equivocal. Results regarding recreational walking were less clear.
More recent evidence supports the conclusions of prior reviews, and new studies address some of the limitations of earlier studies. Although prospective studies are needed, evidence on correlates appears sufficient to support policy changes.
Promoting stair climbing: Stair-riser banners are better than posters. sometimes. Preventive Medicine, 46, 308e310. doi:10 Built environment correlates of walking: A review
- E K Olander
- F F Eves
- A B E Puig-Ribera
- S L Handy
- J Kerr
Olander, E. K., Eves, F. F., & Puig-Ribera, A. (2008). Promoting stair climbing: Stair-riser banners are better than posters. sometimes. Preventive Medicine, 46, 308e310. doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2007.11.009. Saelens, B. E., & Handy, S. L. (2008). Built environment correlates of walking: A review. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise,40, S550eS566. doi:10.1249/ MSS.0b013e31817c67a4. Sallis, J. F., Cervero, R. B., Ascher, W., Henderson, K. A., Kraft, M. K., & Kerr, J. (2006).
Stepping towards causation: Do built environments or individual preferences explain walking, driving, and obesity? Increasing walking: The relative influence of individual, social environmental and physical environmental factors
- L D Frank
- B Saelens
- K E Powell
- J Chapman
- R J Donovan
Frank, L. D., Saelens, B., Powell, K. E., & Chapman, J. (2007). Stepping towards causation: Do built environments or individual preferences explain walking, driving, and obesity? Social Science & Medicine, 65, 1898e1914. doi:10.1016/ j.socscimed.2007.05.053. Giles-Corti, B., & Donovan, R. J. (2003). Increasing walking: The relative influence of individual, social environmental and physical environmental factors. American Journal of Public Health, 93, 1583e1589.
Evidence from the San Francisco Bay area
- Walking
- Urban
Walking, bicycling, and urban landscapes: Evidence from the San Francisco Bay area. American Journal of Public Health, 93, 1478e1483. Department of Health. (2005). Choosing activity: A physical activity action plan.
Contextual barriers to lifestyle physical activity interventions in Hong Kong Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 40, 965e971. doi:10.1249/ MSS Increasing stair climbing in a train station; Effects of contextual variables and visibility
- F F Eves
- R S W Masters
- A Mcmanus
- M Leung
- P Wong
- M J F F White
- E K Olander
- G Nicoll
- A Puig-Ribera
- C Griffin
Eves, F. F., Masters, R. S. W., McManus, A., Leung, M., Wong, P., & White, M. J. (2008a). Contextual barriers to lifestyle physical activity interventions in Hong Kong. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 40, 965e971. doi:10.1249/ MSS.0b013e3181659c68. Eves, F. F., Olander, E. K., Nicoll, G., Puig-Ribera, A., & Griffin, C. (2009). Increasing stair climbing in a train station; Effects of contextual variables and visibility. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 29, 300e303. doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2008.10.002. Eves, F. F., Olander, E. K., Webb, O. J., Griffin, C., & Chambers, J. Likening the stairs in buildings to climbing a mountain; Self-reports and objective measures of effectiveness. Submitted for publication.
Effect of innovative building design on physical activity S111eS123. doi:10.1057/jphp Effectiveness and cost of two stair climbing inter-ventions e Less is more
- G Nicoll
- C Zimring
- E K Olander
- F F Eves
Nicoll, G., & Zimring, C. (2009). Effect of innovative building design on physical activity. Journal of Public Health Policy, 30, S111eS123. doi:10.1057/jphp.2008.55. Olander, E. K., & Eves, F. F. (2011). Effectiveness and cost of two stair climbing inter-ventions e Less is more. American Journal of Health Promotion, 25, 231e236. doi:10.4278/ajhp.090325-QUAN-119.
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- R Cervero
- M Duncan
Cervero, R., & Duncan, M. (2003). Walking, bicycling, and urban landscapes:
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Getting more employees on the stairs: the impact of a calorific expenditure message
- E K Olander
- F F Eves
Olander, E. K., & Eves, F. F. Getting more employees on the stairs: the impact of
a calorific expenditure message, Submitted for publication.
Promoting stair climbing: Single vs. multiple messages
- Webb