Pre-occupation evaluation of perceived indoor environmental quality with a BIM-integrated single-score assessment

Domjan, Suzana (author), Fink, Rok (author), Medved, Sašo (author)

Sustainable buildings must achieve high energy efficiency while providing occupants with optimal indoor environmental conditions for living and working. Accomplishing these complex objectives requires that building functionalities are assessed by planners simultaneously across all design phases. This article presents a method for the integral assessment of perceived indoor environmental quality (IEQ), coupled with dynamic modelling, as part of the Building Information Modelling (BIM) process. The study includes: i) models for ranking perceived IEQ scores across five assessment domains, based on responses from test subjects performing cognitive tasks, ii) weighting factors for each domain, determined using an entropy method, along with an algorithm to calculate a integral single-score perceived indoor environmental quality metric, termed ▫$P-IEQ_{INDEX}$▫, iii) integration of ▫$P-IEQ_{INDEX}$▫ algorithm into a BIM tool, implemented as a macro using visual programming, iv) a case study with dynamic modelling, demonstrating the positive correlation between ▫$P-IEQ_{INDEX}$▫, smart building controls, and energy efficiency measures. This approach enables designers to make data-driven decisions that enhance occupant comfort and performance while optimizing energy efficiency throughout the building’s lifecycle.

• Language: English
• Keywords: experimental evaluation of perceived indoor environmental quality, integral single-score indoor environmental quality index, Euclidian distance method, building information modelling, nearly-zero-energy buildings
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FS - Faculty of Mechanical Engineering; ZF - Faculty of Health Sciences
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: 20 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 29, art. 108929
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-177998
• UDC: 620.9:331.4
• ISSN on article: 2590-1230
• DOI: 10.1016/j.rineng.2025.108929
• COBISS.SI-ID: 264824067
• Publication date in RUL: 15.01.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Results in engineering
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 2590-1230
• COBISS.SI-ID: 529862681

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: notranje okolje, ocena kakovosti, integralni indeks, metoda evklidskih razdalj, informacijsko modeliranje stavb, skoraj nič energijske stavbe

Projects

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: P2-0223
• Name: Prenos toplote in snovi