Comparative study on the indoor environment quality of green office buildings in China with a long-term field measurement and investigation

On account of the actual performance of green building in China is not systematically researched, this paper follows the results of recent POE surveys within green and conventional office buildings in two climate zones of China. Occupants completed a questionnaire related to environmental satisfaction, meanwhile, a long-term objective measurement was proceeding to characterize the immediate environment experienced by the occupants. This study analyzes the subjective and objective measurements of indoor environment quality (IEQ) from four parts: thermal environment, indoor air quality, visual and acoustic environment. The result indicates that green buildings possess significantly higher satisfaction level than conventional buildings, and the actual performance of green buildings basically achieve the design goal of IEQ. The indoor operative temperature of buildings in both climate zones is compared to find the difference of indoor temperature in the interim period and influence of occupants' behavioral habit. At last, two typical thermal comfort model are used to assess the occupants feeling in different climate zones in China. •We made a long-term field measurement in 10 green and 2 conventional buildings.•Green buildings in China have higher satisfaction level than the conventional ones.•The paper verifies the importance of individual control and operations management.•We state the applicability of two thermal comfort models in diverse climate zones.