Indoor Environment Quality and Health in Energy-Efficient Buildings

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue will address a topic of great relevance today, taking into account that in developed countries, most of the time is spent indoors and, depending on each person, presence at home ranges from 60% to 90% of the day, 30% of that time spent sleeping. Considering these data, indoor residential environments have a direct influence on human health, especially when accounting for the fact that in developing countries, significant levels of indoor pollution make housing unsafe, with an impact on the health of inhabitants. Housing is therefore a key health factor for people all over the world, and various parameters such as air quality, ventilation, hygrothermal comfort, lighting, physical environment, building efficiency, and others can contribute to healthy architecture, and the conditions that can result from the poor application of these parameters.

The articles will address issues concerning indoor environmental quality (IEQ), which are described more simply as the conditions inside the building. This includes air quality, but also access to daylight and views, pleasant acoustic conditions, and occupant control over lighting and thermal comfort. It also include the functional aspects of the space, such as whether the layout provides easy access to tools and people when needed and whether there is sufficient space for the occupants. Building managers and operators can increase building occupant satisfaction by considering all aspects of IEQ rather than focusing on temperature or air quality alone.

Within these objectives, housing ventilation becomes a challenging goal to solve as it is directly related to occupants’ health and wellbeing. The biggest challenge is its strong connection to energy demand as a big share of building energy losses are due to air renovations and enclosure infiltrations.

In this Special Issue, we look for a range of innovative research and evidence-based policy ideas that demonstrate the importance of housing research and policy for health and wellbeing.

Prof. Dr. Roberto Alonso González Lezcano
Guest Editor

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