Methodology for assessing the indoor environmental quality in low energy buildings in the Czechia

Abstract

Contemporary design, realization and operation of buildings based on cost-effective energy savings has an impact on the quality of the indoor environment. We meet completely new questions about the quality of the indoor environment in buildings with low energy consumption in terms of thermal comfort, air quality, acoustic, light, electromagnetic, ionic microclimate and, finally, psychological comfort. The aim of the project is, among other, to introduce methodology for expressing the quality of the indoor environment in low-energy buildings. The reason for this project is the fact that clients are currently receiving detailed information only on the energy performance of the building - energy certificate - but they have virtually no information on real or expected quality of the indoor environment in buildings. The methodology is based on a holistic approach to integrate data from smart building control systems, short-term monitoring campaigns, and questionnaire survey among users. In the case of new buildings, the assessment is based on the simulation of the energy performance of buildings. The environmental quality assessment is based on the principles of EN 15251(revised in EN16798-1). Use of methodology is documented on the results of long-term monitoring of selected IEQ indicators (temperature, CO2, humidity) and questionnaires in nZEB family house.