A simulation-based approach for evaluating indoor environmental quality at the early design stage

People spend about 90% of their time indoors. This extended exposure to indoor conditions affects well-being and performance. Design decisions have a profound impact on IEQ, yet existing IEQ-related assessments normally wait until the post-occupancy evaluation when few opportunities for design improvement exist. This study introduces an efficient simulation-based framework involving parametric modeling to simultaneously quantify the impact of design decisions on all domains of IEQ, namely, thermal comfort, visual comfort, acoustic comfort, and air quality. To achieve this goal, first a set of metrics and corresponding evaluation methods to quantify the four IEQ domains are developed. Then, a number of design parameters that impact multiple IEQ criteria in the design stage including office geometry, facade design, and material properties are investigated. Next, the aggregated score for each domain is presented to measure the room's IEQ performance. A case study is considered to demonstrate the proposed workflow. The results indicate the importance of considering all comfort domains together, as one design choice might improve one IEQ domain at the cost of others. The proposed workflow is an efficient and effective method for architects and other building stakeholders to compare design scenarios with regards to IEQ performance at preliminary design stages.