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Background: Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) in housing plays -a critical role in supporting health, comfort, and daily well-being, yet research and practice often address thermal, visual, acoustic, and air quality conditions in isolation. Objective: This systematic review synthesizes findings from peer-reviewed studies to examine how residential IEQ is experienced and shaped through interactions among physical building factors, environmental conditions, occupant behaviors, and socio-economic contexts. Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted following PRISMA guidelines, including 110 peer-reviewed studies published between 2015 and 2025. Data were extracted and coded from 10,838 quotations and corresponding measured environmental parameters, enabling cross-domain thematic synthesis across eight IEQ domains and four analytical themes. Results: The results show persistent perception-to-measurement gaps, particularly in ventilation usability, low-frequency noise, nighttime thermal conditions, and moisture control. Demographic factors, including age, life stage, health sensitivity, and housing tenure, influence how IEQ conditions are perceived. Integrated IEQ assessments indicate that sleep-critical spaces, moisture robustness, and simple, quiet control systems exert disproportionate influence on overall environmental satisfaction. Conclusions: The findings highlight the need to prioritize preventive design strategies addressing moisture, thermal comfort, acoustics, and lighting, while improving usability of environmental controls. Future research should expand longitudinal and cross-context studies, particularly in low-income communities, and strengthen links between IEQ performance and health outcomes. Healthy residential environments require understanding IEQ not only as a technical performance metric but as a spatial and social condition.
Bhattacharjee et al. (Wed,) studied this question.