Indoor environmental quality rating using the TAIL scheme

The TAIL scheme was developed to rate buildings' indoor environmental quality (IEQ). The scheme was developed to assure that occupants' health and well-being are not compromised during deep energy renovation (DER) of office buildings and hotels, but it is expected that TAIL can also be used as a general rating scheme of IEQ in any building. TAIL combines the quality of Thermal, Acoustic and Luminous environment and Indoor air quality to determine the overall quality of the indoor environment. The rating is based on the levels of twelve parameters characterizing IEQ, which are measured, modeled, or inspected in actual buildings. To allow the prediction of TAIL parameters during the design phase, a method was developed called PredicTAIL. It uses modeling tools for the prediction of IEQ under different design scenarios. The feasibility of TAIL and PredicTAIL was examined in the hotel and office buildings. It showed the sufficient discrimination power concerning the IEQ and its components in these buildings when using these rating schemes. TAIL and PredicTAIL create a complete method for evaluating IEQ and its components during the design and operation of a building. No such method has been available previously.