Performance indicators for health, comfort and safety of the indoor environment

In building design and engineering, labeling systems have been introduced to evaluate building performance and compare buildings. Labels linked to sustainability as they exist today do not include the detailed information required to identify sources of exposures encountered in the indoor environment, which influence the occupant’s health and comfort. The assessment is limited to some aspects, mainly based on current standards for indoor environmental quality, while the interrelations with other categories of aspects are not identified. In this paper, a performance indicator framework for the assessment of the indoor environment in a building is presented. Performance indicators for health and comfort have been reviewed, focusing on five core performance indicators: acoustic comfort, visual comfort, indoor air quality, quality of drinking water, and thermal comfort. The resulting indicator framework is applicable for the assessment of the indoor environment in a building and the implementation in a labeling system