A New Year-Round Campaign to Spotlight Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ)
June 5, 2025 – World Environment Day
To mark World Environment Day, World Refrigeration Day is proud to launch a new global initiative: IEQ Matters—a year-round awareness campaign designed to elevate the importance of Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) and its vital role in health, well-being, and climate resilience.
While much of the environmental conversation rightly focuses on outdoor air, climate change, and energy efficiency, it’s time to shine a spotlight on the quality of the air, light, sound, and thermal comfort we experience indoors—where we spend around 90% of our lives.
🏢 Why IEQ Matters
IEQ includes five key elements:
- Air Quality
- Thermal Comfort
- Acoustics
- Lighting
- Access to Nature
These factors silently shape our ability to think, sleep, work, and recover. Poor indoor environments can lead to fatigue, stress, reduced productivity, and long-term health impacts—yet are often overlooked in policy, design, and public awareness.
“IEQ is not a luxury—it’s a public health necessity. We want to make it visible, measurable, and actionable,” says Stephen Gill, Founder of World Refrigeration Day.
“With IEQ Matters, we’re highlighting that Indoor Environmental Quality isn’t just one thing—it’s the combination of multiple interrelated elements: clean air, comfortable temperatures, humidity levels, good acoustics, healthy lighting, and access to nature. Each of these can influence our health and performance on its own, but it’s their interplay that truly shapes the quality of our indoor lives.
That’s why this campaign will take a holistic approach to IEQ, while also using individual awareness days throughout the year to take a deeper dive into each specific area. These days give us the chance to focus on particular challenges and celebrate the pioneers who advanced our understanding of indoor environments. But we must never lose sight of the bigger picture—IEQ is more than the sum of its parts.
And crucially, we want to make IEQ understandable and accessible—not just to professionals, but to the people who need it most. Whether it’s a parent worried about air quality in a school, an office worker struggling with noise and lighting, or a tenant dealing with poor ventilation, IEQ Matters is about empowering everyone with the knowledge and tools to advocate for healthier, more inclusive indoor spaces.
Because inclusive environments are not just about physical access—they are about comfort, wellbeing, and dignity for all.”
📅 What’s Coming
The IEQ Matters campaign will feature structured awareness days throughout the year, each linked to the birthday of a historical pioneer in environmental design and engineering. These dates will act as educational milestones and rallying points to inspire positive change in how we design, use, and regulate indoor spaces.
Further details on the calendar, featured pioneers, and how to get involved will be released in the coming days.
🛠️ Today’s Call to Action
On this World Environment Day, we invite everyone to:
- ✅ Improve air ventilation and filtration
- ✅ Reduce noise pollution in living and workspaces
- ✅ Use lighting that supports circadian health
- ✅ Incorporate plants and natural elements into indoor design
From engineers to educators, designers to decision-makers—IEQ matters to us all.
💬 Be Part of the Movement
As World Refrigeration Day continues to champion sustainable cooling and heating, the launch of IEQ Matters brings a timely reminder: the path to a healthier, more sustainable future runs through the places we live, learn, and work.
📣 Follow along. Share the message. And stay tuned—more details will be shared very soon.
Because when it comes to our comfort, performance, and resilience—Indoor Environmental Quality Matters.
