Building environmental performance evaluation should make use of a life cycle assessment(LCA) approach, by considering all building process phases: raw material acquisition,manufacture, transportation, construction, use or operation, decommissioning, disposal andre-use. Such an approach is intended to measure, not only impacts on natural and non-naturalresources but also building indoor environmental quality (IEQ).

A cleaning concept consists of an evaluation procedure for estimating the need of cleaning, atheoretical model to design a rotating duct cleaning brush, cleaning methods and a verificationmethod of the cleaning result of HVAC system. The visual evaluation method with a videocamera and a display has been developed for a primary method to evaluate cleanliness beforeand after the cleaning work. The results obtained with the theoretical model of the brush werein good agreement with those obtained in the laboratory tests.

Within the European funded project PeBBu (Performance-Based Building), a state-of-the-artreport on the performance-based building (PBB) approach with focus on healthy buildings isprepared. It deals with methods, guidelines, protocols and tools to design, evaluate andmeasure the health status of buildings or designs for buildings. The health of buildings in thiscontext relates to air quality, ventilation, thermal comfort, noise and visual comfort.After an introduction into PBB, this paper summarizes the state-of-the-art with respect toperformance and healthy buildings.

The Environmental Protection Department conducted a territory-wide indoor air qualitysurvey in Hong Kong. The report released in 1997 confirmed that one-third of the sampledbuildings were classified as sick buildings. Many of the causes could be attributed tounacceptable indoor air quality (IAQ). In response to this, the Indoor Air Quality ManagementGroup distributed a Guidance Notes for the Management of Indoor Air Quality in Offices andPublic Places for public consultation. It includes an annual IAQ certification scheme.

The indoor temperature can be controlled with different levels of accuracy depending on thebuilding and its HVAC system. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potentialproductivity benefits of improved temperature control, and to apply the information for cost-benefit analyses of night-time ventilative cooling, which is a very energy efficient method ofreducing indoor daytime temperatures. We analysed the literature relating work performancewith temperature, and found a general decrement in work performance when temperaturesexceeded those associated with thermal neutrality.

Regrettably, buildings often do not perform as expected or wanted by the users. Especiallywith regard to indoor environment, dissatisfaction is occurring frequently.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential economical benefits of reducedsummer time temperatures in an office building. We selected for the study, a typical officebuilding in downtown Helsinki. We measured the room temperatures during a summerrepresentatively in the office rooms. In many rooms the maximum temperatures were wellabove 30C in summer 2002. We used these measured data and calculated the potentialsavings due to improved thermal environment. A method for calculating the potential savingswas introduced in paper by Seppnen et al. (2003).

Life-cycle costs of investments for improving air quality in an office building were comparedwith the resulting revenues from increased office productivity; benefits from reduced healthcosts and sickness absence were not included. The building was simulated in a cold, amoderate and a hot climate. It was ventilated by a constant air volume system with heatrecovery. The air quality was improved by increasing the outdoor air supply rate and byreducing the pollution loads.

This study calculates the effect of permeable hygroscopic structures on IAQ and thermalcomfort in a cold climate. Simulations are carried out for a detached house and application ofcriteria for assessment of indoor climate is given. The results show that hygroscopic structuressignificantly decreased the fluctuation of indoor relative humidity. In the winter,hygroscopicity had only minor effect on indoor climate, but in the summer, hygroscopicityhad some effect on thermal comfort, which was improved at lower ventilation rates.

Macroeconomic analyses indicate a high cost to society of a deteriorated indoor climate. Thefew example calculations performed to date indicate that measures taken to improve IEQ arehighly cost-effective when health and productivity benefits are considered. We believe thatcost-benefit analyses of building designs and operations should routinely incorporate healthand productivity impacts.