Post-Occupancy Evaluation of Indoor Air Quality and Thermal Performance in a Zero Carbon Building

Polina Trofimova, Ali Cheshmehzangi, Wu Deng and Craig Hancock
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Polina Trofimova: Department of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, Ningbo 315100, China
Ali Cheshmehzangi: Department of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, Ningbo 315100, China
Wu Deng: Department of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, Ningbo 315100, China
Craig Hancock: School of Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, UK

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 2, 1-21

Abstract: Maintaining a comfortable indoor environment throughout the year makes up the main part of energy consumption caused by people’s use of buildings. In recent years, China has started to integrate sustainable technologies into green building design and construction. However, some post-occupancy reports on certified buildings revealed that such integration has been perceived to prioritize energy savings over comfort. This paper aims to investigate the ability of the first Chinese zero carbon building to maintain comfortable and healthy indoor conditions in the summer season. The research implements a combination of occupant survey and on-site measurements to evaluate the occupants’ perception of the indoor environment quality (IEQ) and benchmark the measurements against relevant standards. The results from this study show that the mean summer indoor temperature was 0.9 °C above the standard limit, while on average, occupants gave a positive score to the indoor thermal environment. High contentment with the building acoustics was reported by users and supported by sensors measurements meeting the standard values. The illuminance levels were mainly maintained high with the exception of the light in one of the studied zones. Analyzing the data on occupants experiencing sick building syndromes revealed that 45.8% of respondents experienced at least one of the symptoms.

Keywords: IEQ; sustainable building; indoor environment; health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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