Building performance: Indoor environmental quality, light and sound
Improving the quality and performance of indoor environments
Our research spans indoor and semi-outdoor environments in residential, commercial office, retail and educational building typologies.
The Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) Lab is a major international hub for the building research community and the broader construction sector to study how multiple indoor environmental factors affect human comfort, performance, and health. We have a critical mass of researchers working in the area of the energy performance of buildings, including the analysis and application of green rating systems, circular economy design, and building retrofit.
We pursue sonic research in architecture and design, focusing on architectural and audio acoustics, creative audio and music, and auditory display.
Our Lighting academics research the application of light and the spectral characteristics of illumination to improve architectural spaces, human interactions with light, and the energy efficiency of lighting.
Our specific focus is on thermal, acoustic and lighting comforts, along with indoor air quality. We produce occupant-centred, evidence-based design guidance that is relevant to both the design-stage and operational-phase of a building’s lifecycle.
The mission of our research in indoor environmental quality is to improve the quality of internal environments in buildings where we spend more than 90 percent of our day-to-day lives. We aim to define the relationships between building occupants – including their comfort, health, wellbeing and productivity – and the physical characteristics of the indoor environments they occupy.