Assessing the Interplay of Indoor Environmental Quality, Energy Use, and Environmental Impacts in Educational Buildings

We face a significant challenge in balancing the creation of comfortable built environments with the pressing need to minimize energy consumption and environmental impacts. Meeting this challenge demands a proactive approach. This research explores the interplay between indoor environmental quality (IEQ), energy use, and environmental impacts in an educational building throughout an academic year. The methodology integrates experimental campaigns for the assessment of IEQ parameters, the analysis of data on energy consumption, and the environmental impact calculations and simulations. The IEQ monitoring results for the academic year reveal a mean indoor air temperature of 26.49 °C, a CO2 concentration of 805.83 ppm, an illuminance of 335.83 lx, and a sound level of 51.03 dB. To assess the building’s compliance with the energy efficiency regulations, the energy use intensity was calculated to be 90.19 kWh/m2/year, The environmental impact assessment revealed a global warming potential of 120,199.82 kg CO2e/year, with natural gas consumption contributing 61.72%. The analysis of the results uncovered challenges in IEQ and opportunities for improvement. A 1 °C reduction in the indoor temperature during the heating months may result in environmental benefits, including a potential decrease of 1.17 kg CO2e/m2. This study recommends integrated, intelligent control systems and a holistic strategy to optimize the energy use while maintaining the proper IEQ in educational settings.