Indoor environmental quality index involves a set of indoor environmental quality sub-components, provides an assessment of building user comfort and satisfaction and may be used as a tool to support the design of energy-efficient buildings. Unfortunately, the unknown reliability of the indoor environmental quality model is a recognized barrier for its wider practical use. In this article, a preliminary reliability test for the indoor environmental quality model is presented, providing a correct evaluation of the measurement data results and a step-by-step guide to the expression of its uncertainty. The uncertainty based on the physical parameters is first analyzed and then corrected by considering the impacts of the instability of the physical parameters. In the end, all sources of uncertainty are recognized, including uncertainties introduced by the probability distribution of panel sensory tests. A procedure for detecting internal incongruity in the indoor environmental quality model structure is also provided, and a criterion for elimination of this syndrome is proposed. Finally, in standardized indoor environment, the estimated uncertainty of the IEQindex is presented to be no less than ±17%.
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