Condition assessment model of building indoor environment: a case study on educational buildings

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to develop a condition assessment (CA) model for a building's indoor 21 environments and to improve the building's asset management process. Design/methodology/approach: The methodology is based on dividing the building into spaces, which are the principal evaluated elements based on the building's indoor environmental quality (IEQ). An evaluation scheme was prepared for the identified factors and the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) technique was used to calculate the relative weight of each space inside the building as well as the contribution of each IEQ factors (IEQFs) in the overall environmental condition of each space inside the building. The multi-attribute utility theory (MAUT) was then applied to assess the environmental conditions of the building as a whole and its spaces. An educational building in Canada was evaluated using the developed model. Findings: Each space type was found to have its own IEQFs weights, which confirms the hypothesis that the importance and allocation of each IEQF are dependent on the function and tasks carried out in each space. A similar indoor environmental assessment score was calculated using the developed model and the building CA conducted by the facility management team; “89%” was calculated, using K-mean clustering, for the physical and environmental conditions. Originality/value: IEQ affects occupants' assessment of their quality of life (QOL). Despite the existence of IEQ evaluation models that correlate the building's IEQ and the occupants' perceived indoor assessments, some limitations have led to the necessity of developing a comprehensive model that integrates all factors and their sub-criteria in an assessment scheme that converts all the indoor environmental factors into objective metrics.