The University of Sydney says it will encourage architects and builders to create more energy efficient and environmentally sound buildings in Australia, following the opening of a new laboratory last week.

The Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning’s unique Indoor Environment Quality (IEQ) Laboratory will allow architectural and engineering researchers, as well as the construction and development industries, to test the relationships between design, internal comfort and energy efficiency.

The laboratory consists of two rooms fitted with a multitude of sensors and controls, allowing researchers to control indoor conditions such as temperature, ventilation, air-flow and direction, acoustics and lighting level, direction and intensity.

As these conditions change researchers will monitor occupants' impressions of comfort.

The comfort laboratory is the cornerstone of the University’s research into Indoor Environmental Quality, a field of architecture and design science that combines psychology, physiology, sustainability and architecture to investigate how sustainability and human experiences influence productivity at work and comfort at home.

Opening the IEQ Laboratory, Climate Change and Energy Efficiency Minister, Greg Combet, who is also Minister for Industry and Innovation, said the building and construction industry was an important part of the transition to a clean energy future.

“This transition is creating opportunities in renewable energy, low-emissions technologies and processes, and new services that will be in high demand in a competitive low-pollution economy,” Combet said.

The IEQ Laboratory will allow researchers to control and monitor temperature, humidity, air movement, ventilation rates, air quality, daylight, artificial lighting, sound and acoustics.

The IEQ Laboratory will help industry determine the most efficient way of constructing buildings, cars, trains, buses or planes that are not only more comfortable but are more energy efficient.

“For the first time Australian industries will be able to assess the performance of buildings or vehicles before they are built,” Combet said.

“This facility will also give governments the technical resources to test energy efficiency and indoor quality measurement systems that are embedded into the National Australian Built Environment Rating System.”

Architecture & Design Team

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