Green Star IEQ Coordination
Green Star is not only about energy, carbon and materials. It also considers the quality of the indoor environment that people use every day. Daylight, glare control, thermal comfort, air quality, acoustics and lighting quality can all influence how a building feels, performs and supports the people inside it.
This article explains how indoor environmental quality connects daylight and thermal comfort in Green Star projects. For broader service information, visit our Daylight Modelling Knowledge Hub or our Thermal Comfort Modelling Knowledge Hub.
In Brief
Daylight, thermal comfort and indoor environmental quality can support Green Star projects by helping project teams understand whether a building provides healthy, comfortable and usable internal spaces.
Daylight modelling and thermal comfort modelling are separate forms of analysis. In Green Star projects, they often need to be coordinated because façade design, glazing, shading, services and internal planning affect both visual comfort and thermal comfort.
Indoor environmental quality, often shortened to IEQ, refers to the internal conditions that affect how people experience a building. It includes the quality of light, air, temperature, acoustics and comfort within occupied spaces.
In commercial buildings, IEQ can influence wellbeing, concentration, productivity, satisfaction and the overall usability of a workplace or facility. A building may be efficient and low carbon, but if the interior is too hot, too cold, too dark, too glary, too noisy or poorly ventilated, the building may not support the people it was designed for.
For Green Star projects, IEQ is not a decorative layer. It is a building performance issue that often needs to be considered alongside energy, façade design, services strategy and the intended use of the building.
Daylight access and daylight distribution
Glare control and visual comfort
Thermal comfort across occupied spaces
Indoor air quality and ventilation
Acoustic comfort and internal noise control
Lighting quality and lighting comfort
Views and outlook
Occupant wellbeing and everyday user experience
Daylight
Daylight is one of the clearest ways that building performance and human experience meet. Good daylight can reduce reliance on artificial lighting, improve visual comfort and create more pleasant internal spaces.
Poor daylight can leave occupied areas feeling flat, dark or disconnected, while uncontrolled daylight can create glare and overheating. In Green Star projects, daylight may be considered as part of indoor environmental quality or visual comfort outcomes.
Depending on the project and pathway, teams may need to show how daylight reaches occupied areas, how glare is managed and how internal spaces remain usable throughout the day.
More glazing can improve daylight access, but it can also increase glare, solar heat gain and discomfort if it is not carefully designed. A heavily shaded building may reduce heat gain but create darker internal areas that rely more heavily on artificial lighting.
Good daylight is the right balance of daylight access, glare control, heat control, façade design and internal planning. That balance is why daylight modelling often needs to sit beside thermal comfort analysis in Green Star projects.
Daylight modelling helps project teams understand daylight performance before the building is built. It can show where daylight reaches, where spaces may be underlit, where glare risk may appear and how design changes could improve the internal environment.
Daylight access to regularly occupied spaces
Daylight distribution across floor plates
Visual comfort and glare risk
Skylights, atriums and shaded daylight strategies
Façade design and window placement
Internal planning, partitions and workstation locations
Relationship between daylight, solar heat gain and cooling loads
Evidence to support Green Star, WELL or broader IEQ objectives
Thermal comfort is about whether people feel reasonably comfortable in a space. It is influenced by air temperature, radiant temperature, humidity, air movement, clothing, activity levels, solar gain, building fabric, façade performance and the way mechanical systems operate.
In commercial projects, thermal comfort can be more complex than a single thermostat setting. A north facing perimeter zone, a deep internal office area, a naturally ventilated space and a glazed atrium may all experience comfort differently.
Important Distinction
Thermal comfort modelling is separate from daylight modelling. Daylight modelling focuses on daylight, glare and visual comfort. Thermal comfort modelling focuses on heat, overheating risk and internal comfort conditions.
Thermal comfort modelling helps project teams test how a building is likely to perform for occupants. It can support decisions about façade design, shading, glazing, insulation, ventilation, mechanical systems, controls and internal zoning.
Whether occupied spaces are likely to remain comfortable
How façade and glazing choices affect heat gain and comfort
Where overheating or underheating risk may occur
How natural ventilation or mixed mode strategies may perform
How mechanical systems support comfort in different zones
How comfort changes across seasons and operating conditions
Whether the design supports project specific IEQ targets
Where design changes may improve comfort outcomes
Indoor environmental quality and energy performance are closely connected. A design that brings in large amounts of daylight may also increase heat gain and glare if the façade is not carefully resolved. A highly efficient mechanical system may still create comfort complaints if zoning, controls or air distribution do not suit the way the building is used.
This is why Green Star projects often require coordination between architecture, ESD, façade design, services engineering, interiors and modelling teams. Daylight, comfort, air quality and energy should not be treated as separate boxes.
The aim is not only to make a building efficient. The aim is to make it efficient, usable, comfortable and credible as a better commercial environment.
Indoor environmental quality is also closely connected with WELL. The difference is that Green Star considers IEQ within a broader sustainability framework, while WELL focuses more directly on health, wellbeing and occupant experience.
A project may use Green Star to guide environmental performance and WELL to deepen the people focused layer. Daylight, glare, thermal comfort, air quality, acoustics and lighting quality can therefore sit across multiple project objectives.
The important step is to understand which pathway is being targeted and what evidence is required. The same modelling or analysis may support several conversations, but the requirements and documentation pathways may not be identical.
Daylight, thermal comfort and IEQ should be considered early because they are influenced by major design decisions. Building orientation, façade strategy, glazing, shading, ceiling heights, floor plate depth, ventilation approach, mechanical zoning and interior planning can all affect the quality of occupied spaces.
Is Green Star, WELL or another IEQ related pathway being targeted?
Are daylight, glare or visual comfort outcomes required by the brief or rating pathway?
Are thermal comfort calculations, dynamic modelling or comfort reviews required?
Who is responsible for coordinating IEQ evidence across architecture, ESD, services and interiors?
Indoor environmental quality matters because it is where building performance becomes personal. People may not see the energy model, carbon strategy or compliance pathway, but they feel whether a space is too hot, too cold, too bright, too dark, too glary or difficult to work in.
For Green Star projects, this human layer is important. A sustainable commercial building should not only reduce environmental impact. It should also provide spaces that are usable, comfortable, healthy and fit for purpose.
Daylight modelling, thermal comfort analysis and IEQ review can help make those outcomes more visible before the project is built.
Certified Energy
Certified Energy helps commercial project teams understand how daylight, thermal comfort and indoor environmental quality connect with Green Star, WELL, Section J, JV3 and broader building performance requirements.
Depending on the project, this may involve daylight modelling, thermal comfort analysis, ESD consultancy, energy compliance coordination, lifecycle assessment or embodied carbon reporting. Our role is to clarify what evidence may be needed, which modelling inputs are useful and how IEQ requirements can be coordinated with the broader sustainability and compliance pathway.
Frequently Asked Questions
Daylight and thermal comfort can support Green Star projects by helping project teams understand the quality of the internal environment. They may connect with indoor environmental quality, visual comfort, occupant wellbeing, energy performance and broader commercial sustainability outcomes.
What is indoor environmental quality in Green Star?Indoor environmental quality refers to the conditions inside a building that affect comfort, health and user experience. In Green Star projects, this may include daylight, glare, thermal comfort, air quality, acoustics, lighting quality and other indoor performance factors.
Is daylight modelling required for every Green Star project?Not necessarily. Daylight modelling requirements depend on the Green Star pathway, project brief and intended credits or outcomes. Some projects may need detailed daylight modelling, while others may use a different evidence pathway.
What is thermal comfort modelling?Thermal comfort modelling helps assess whether occupied spaces are likely to remain comfortable for users under expected operating conditions. It can consider factors such as temperature, humidity, air movement, clothing, activity levels, mechanical systems and passive design.
Is daylight modelling the same as thermal comfort modelling?No. Daylight modelling focuses on daylight access, distribution, glare and visual comfort. Thermal comfort modelling focuses on heat, comfort conditions, overheating risk and internal environmental response. They can be coordinated, but they are separate forms of analysis.
How does indoor environmental quality relate to WELL?Indoor environmental quality is relevant to both Green Star and WELL. Green Star considers IEQ within a broader sustainability framework, while WELL focuses more directly on health, wellbeing and occupant experience.
Related Guidance
Explore how Green Star can shape sustainability, indoor environmental quality and building performance outcomes.
Understand daylight access, glare, visual comfort and façade design as part of building performance.
Explore how heat, comfort and internal environmental conditions affect occupied spaces.
Read the broader guide to WELL, indoor environmental quality and occupant wellbeing.
Learn how Section J supports NCC energy efficiency compliance for commercial buildings.
Coordinate sustainability, compliance and performance advice across the project team.
Project Review
Early advice can help identify whether your project needs daylight modelling, thermal comfort analysis, IEQ review or related building performance inputs before the design becomes difficult to change.
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