What is good indoor climate?
People want to live and work in a healthy and sustainable environment with a good indoor environment throughout their lives.
What is indoor environmental quality about?
The indoor environmental quality (IEQ) has an impact on the health, comfort, well-being, productivity and performance of the building occupants.
A poor IEQ can have short and long-term health effects, such as health disorders, respiratory diseases, stress levels, and discomfort of occupants, among others.
IEQ considerations can enhance the building's quality, energy efficiency and sustainability through an integrated design approach.
Find out more about indoor climate - From past to present
"Besides addressing thermal comfort and other IEQ issues, buildings and other enclosed spaces are increasingly challenged to provide a healthy environment in an energy efficient manner. The complex relationship between indoor and outdoor environmental conditions, coupled with the impacts of climate change, requires a paradigm shift towards creating buildings that are comfortable and healthy for the occupants yet also energy efficient. Although the goal of improved IAQ and thermal comfort can be achieved by increasing energy consumption, it can also be achieved without significant increase or even with decreased energy consumption."
— ASHRAE IAQ, 2013
How do we understand the indoor environmenal quality definition and parameters?
The indoor environmental quality (IEQ) can be defined and determined by a variety of physical and psychological aspects of life indoors, such as thermal comfort, air quality, lighting quality and acoustic conditions, as well as others.
- Air
- Thermal
- Lighting
- Sound
Read more about elements of the indoor climate
Indoor environmental quality in the big picture
How it all began? Several thousands years ago until today.
Indoor environmental quality (IEQ) is more complex than indoor air quality (IAQ).
Transitioning from just indoor air quality with building's energy efficiency to the complexity of indoor environmetal quality and people's health.
Discover why indoor environmental quality is so complex
Our environmental preferences are based on value judgments which are learned through past experiences and influenced by our background and social-economic level and age is an important catalyst.F. Rohles, Jr., Ph.D.