The research aims to systematize the current scientific evidence on methodologies used to investigate the impact of the indoor built environment on well-being, focusing on indoor environmental quality (IEQ) variables such as thermal comfort, air quality, noise, and lighting. This systematic review adheres to the Joanna Briggs Institute framework and PRISMA guidelines to assess empirical studies that incorporate physiological measurements like heart rate, skin temperature, and brain activity, which are captured through various techniques in real-life contexts. The principal results reveal a significant interest in the relationship between the built environment and physiological as well as psychological states. For instance, thermal comfort was found to be the most commonly studied IEQ variable, affecting heart activity and skin temperature. The research also identifies the need for a shift towards using advanced technologies like Mobile Brain/Body Imaging (MoBI) for capturing real-time physiological data in natural settings. Major conclusions include the need for a multi-level, evidence-based approach that considers the dynamic interaction between the brain, body, and environment. This study advocates for the incorporation of multiple physiological signals to gain a comprehensive understanding of well-being in relation to the built environment. It also highlights gaps in current research, such as the absence of noise as a studied variable of IEQ and the need for standardized well-being assessment tools. By synthesizing these insights, the research aims to pave the way for future studies that can inform better design and policy decisions for indoor environments.

Retrofitting of existing buildings offers significant opportunities to reduce global energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, it is considered as one of the main approaches to achieve sustainability in the built environment at a relatively low cost. Although there is a wide range of retrofitting technologies available, methods to identify the most cost-effective measures for each project remain a major technical challenge. Numerous projects have been developed worldwide to face this challenge with different approaches; however, many of the tools meet only local objectives, which is why they are unknown in the international arena, showing a limited transfer of knowledge. This review organizes the results under three categories: renovation assessment, financial assessment, and transfer of knowledge. The tools focusing on promoting the renovation of buildings differ in the type of user, for example, the owners, politicians, or investors. The tools dealing with financial assessment suggest different methods to evaluate and calculate the cost savings, construction costs, and return forecasts through retrofit interventions. Other tools comply with the policies that seek to register, evaluate, and characterize the existing buildings. This review provides researchers, construction professionals, and politicians with a better understanding of the advances made to effectively design building retrofitting measures and promote energy conservation as well as the assessment of the building stock for the development of policies. The review shows that many tools have the potential of joining their capabilities, which can create many opportunities for innovation in the retrofitting area.

Energy poverty (EP) is a problem that affects a large part of the world population, leaving those most vulnerable to suffer from unhealthy indoor conditions in their homes, being cold in winter months, struggling with their monetary situation, and even reducing social activities with relatives. In this context, it is important to assess EP situations and identify those factors that most affect each one. This paper, through the evaluation and adaptation of the Three-dimensional and Territorial Indicator of Energy Poverty (EPITT in Spanish), developed by the Energy Poverty Network in Chile (RedPE Chile), assesses the different EP situations in a social-housing case study located in south-central Chile. The results show different EP situations depending on the dimensions studied, e.g., 35% of households had food and hygiene issues, 27% had issues with lighting and electrical devices, 72% with climate control in the home, and 68% experienced equality in energy expenditure issues. It is possible to say that energy expenditure is the dimension that most influences the EP situation. Furthermore, the values in the different dimensions are below the national average, mainly because of the poor quality of housing, limitations in access to energy, and low income. In conclusion, the adaptation of EPTTI provides a better understanding of EP vulnerability at the local scale.

Office-based environmental control systems are centralized and designed to control entire spaces, ignoring use dynamics and requirements, and despite being regulated by standardized comfort models, they fail to satisfy real occupants, mainly due to their varied individual characteristics. This research is field-based with a quantitative approach and correlational design. Its objective is to empirically demonstrate that open-plan design, where different users share the same space and generalized environmental conditions, lacks a holistic view of IEQ criteria and the integration of other factors that affect health and well-being. Four buildings are chosen in different Chilean cities, measuring temperatures and CO₂ levels at different desks, and applying a survey, which was designed as part of the research to analyze the estimation of relationships between variables and to reveal the factors that cause differences among occupants. The results show that people’s satisfaction is multivariable and depends on other factors that positively or negatively stimulate their sensations and perceptions, such as, for example, the option to personally control their environmental conditions. Likewise, it is evident that to achieve comfort, health is being affected while in the building.

En Chile, 75% del parque habitacional existente fue construido sin consideraciones energéticas-ambientales, convirtiéndose en altos consumidores de energía. Hoy existen medidas de mejoramiento energético para viviendas existentes, pero éstas solo consideran algunos desempeños con implicancia en la demanda energética, siendo cada uno mejorado de manera independiente, sin considerar la relación y el efecto que conllevan al estar integrados. Esta investigación propone cubrir una brecha de conocimiento, de cómo diferentes criterios de desempeños actúan integralmente en el mejoramiento energético-ambiental de una vivienda. Actualmente se carece de tal conocimiento, que bajo la filosofía prestacional, genera diversas estrategias de mejoramiento para objetivos de desempeños en climas templados: Confort Térmico, Eficiencia Energética por Calefacción y Calidad del Aire Interior. Se somete un caso de estudio en el centro-sur de Chile, a un diagnostico post-ocupacional (monitorizaciones, simulaciones dinámicas y encuestas de percepción), para establecer criterios de desempeños, cuya relevancia e interdependencia se analiza mediante un estudio multifactorial. Se concluye que para alcanzar dichos objetivos es implícito mejorar la vivienda bajo la integración de criterios como: aumento de hermeticidad al aire, disminución del valor de transmitancia térmico y entrega del caudal de ventilación mínimo; siempre en una solución holística y no aislada.