The article analyzes the impact of measured concentrations of Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOC) emissions determined for four BREEAM certified buildings on the Indoor Air Quality Index (IAQindex) and the overall Indoor Environment Quality index (IEQindex). The IEQindex indicates the percentage of building users who are satisfied from the indoor environment. In existing IEQ models, currently the concentration of CO2 is mostly used to evaluate the IAQindex sub-component. Authors point out that it is recommended to use TVOC instead CO2 at pre-occupant stage where building is mainly polluted by emission from finishing products. The research provides the approach where the component related to the emission of TVOCs is implemented to IEQ model. The first stage of assessment was a test of the volatile organic compounds concentrations in case study buildings. Secondly, the analysis results were assigned into the number of dissatisfied users (PD(IAQ)) from the theoretical function given by Jokl-Fanger resulting from the Weber-Fechner equation. Finally, the overall IEQindex was calculated. The IEQ approach proposed in this paper is mainly based on a consideration of EN 15251 and scientifically accepted models.

Indoor environment quality is a relative measure of comfort perception by people exposed to the indoor conditions. It is expected that any assessment of energy performance should also include indoor comfort. This study is to review indoor environmental quality models (with respect to thermal and acoustic comfort, indoor air and lighting quality). A simplified indoor environmental quality model is also developed with consideration of EN 15251 draft ‘Guideline for using indoor environmental input parameters for the design and assessment of energy performance of buildings’. This article analyses what components should be modelled and in particular discusses the effect of different weighting schemes on the overall indoor environmental quality index. The analysis includes thermal comfort models, indoor air quality, acoustic comfort and daylight illumination versus lightning. The proposed indoor environmental quality component sub-models will give the most reliable results when the model indoor environment input data are correctly measured and disturbing influences of indoor environmental quality monitoring process are well defined and properly assessed. The final indoor environmental quality result is based on subjoining the uncertainty values achieved in panel analysis of percentage of persons dissatisfied with indoor environmental quality with corrected measurement uncertainty. All simulations for IEQindex sub-components and preliminary metrological analysis of the whole indoor environmental quality model were performed with the NIST program for Monte Carlo tests. The presented indoor environmental quality model proposal is developed to support engineers’ practice as the convenient tool for a practical assessment of building’s occupational satisfaction.

Designing and constructing near zero energy buildings (NZEBs) is a challenge not only from a structural point of view, but also from the point of view of ensuring appropriate climate comfort for users. The standards describing how to ensure comfort were created in times when the challenges of building ZEB/NZEB were not yet explored and energy issues were not as important as they are today. Therefore, the assessment of the thermal and climatic comfort of people living and working in such buildings requires a new or revised approach to the methodology of thermal comfort assessment. In this article, the authors present the results of a thermal comfort study based on measurements and thermal sensory tests. Testing was carried out in an experimental office building (passive standard). The main goal of the experiment was to compare the thermal comfort measurement method based on the ISO-Fanger model with the actual comfort results obtained by the panellists in the model office condition. The tests allowed the lowest operating temperature providing thermal comfort (predicted mean vote (PMV) = 0 and −0.5) to be determined. Sensory tests were conducted using three types of questions. The results were compared to the other researchers’ findings. It was noted that the panellists showed better thermal comfort sensation at lower temperatures than would result from the traditional Fanger distribution, so the authors proposed the experimental function of percentage of dissatisfied (PPD) = f(PMV). The authors hope that it contributed to the actual state of knowledge as a “small and specific scale” validation of the existing thermal comfort model. The results also revealed that the method of heating has an influence on the subjective thermal sensation.

Indoor environmental quality index involves a set of indoor environmental quality subcomponents, provides an assessment of building user comfort and satisfaction and may be used as a tool to support the design of energy-efficient buildings. Unfortunately, the unknown reliability of the indoor environmental quality model is a recognized barrier for its wider practical use. In this article, a preliminary reliability test for the indoor environmental quality model is presented, providing a correct evaluation of the measurement data results and a step-by-step guide to the expression of its uncertainty. The uncertainty based on the physical parameters is first analyzed and then corrected by considering the impacts of the instability of the physical parameters. In the end, all sources of uncertainty are recognized, including uncertainties introduced by the probability distribution of panel sensory tests. A procedure for detecting internal incongruity in the indoor environmental quality model structure is also provided, and a criterion for elimination of this syndrome is proposed. Finally, in standardized indoor environment, the estimated uncertainty of the IEQ index is presented to be no less than 617%.

The main objective of this article is to propose possible requirements for NZEB (nearly zero-energy buildings) renovation definition in heating dominated climate. A survey was carried out on potential approaches and indicators that could be used for the NZEB definition of existing single-family houses in Poland. The process of determining requirements for the NZEB renovation definition was divided into two stages. The cost-optimal U-values of the building’s envelope were initially calculated and, based on them, the energy demand for heating (QH) and the reduction of non-renewable primary energy demand (QP) were estimated. The calculations were made for different energy prices, locations, and two building models. Based on them the requirements for cost-optimal renovation (QH ≤ 60 kWh/(m² year), QP reduction ≥ 75%) and NZEB renovation (QH ≤ 40 kWh/(m² year), QP reduction ≥ 80%) were proposed. In contrast to definitions using only a maximum level of QP, two indicators were used. Such a solution is appropriate for existing buildings because it prevents the situation in which only renewable energy sources (RES) (with a low primary energy factor) will be applied in order to decrease the primary, non-renewable energy demand.