Center for the Built Environment

This paper explores the existing literature on indoor environmental quality (IEQ) evaluation models and proposes a new weighting and classification scheme. Studies that attempt to provide IEQ assessment of commercial buildings through a scoring system are reviewed and critiqued. Objective and subjective evaluation methods and correlations are discussed. The use of assessment categories (classes) in IEQ models is critiqued and an argument is proposed against their adoption. IEQ weighting schemes are summarized and compared against a newly developed scheme based on 52,980 occupant responses in office buildings. A binary assessment classification scheme is proposed in alignment with the ASHRAE/CIBSE/USGBC Performance Measurement Protocols for Commercial Buildings.