Has anyone thought about the measures taken to evaluate a building? If no, then there is a better source through which we can conduct that effectively.

The process is called Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) which is basically to assess and evaluate how buildings support productivity and well-being. It is to measure how the building which is in use is performing. The POE is used in all sectors including health care, education, commercial and housing where substandard performance of the building affects the cost, business occupancy and productivity of a building.

HowPost Occupancy Evaluation is effective?

1.It bridges the gaps occurred in communication or in understanding the impact of building operation.

2.It also provides with ideas for innovative design and procurement for future projects

3.It also acts as a benchmark to compare different projects

Evaluation methods for POE are:

1.Check if the environment compliments the setting up of a building.  The building impacts productivity and performance

2.Review design, procurement, construction etc.

3.Monitor customer experience and satisfaction

4.Observe the environment conditions including temperature, light, air quality, ventilation etc.

5.There should be a structured method to assess the design quality and building performance opposed to industry benchmarks and good practice.

What is the need for architects to embrace Post Occupancy Evaluation?

The two prominent architectsSan Van der Ryn and MurraySilverstein innovative research is presented as a first formal example for Post Occupancy Evaluation for buildings which was published in 1967. Nowadays, the POE’s vary widely in scope and they emphasize on two basic topics:Is the building designed as intendedand are the occupants satisfied with the outcome? Studies reveal that 88% of building performance directly affects user satisfaction.

Besides the benefits of POE there are some barrier which needs to be addressed. It makes it difficult to conduct evaluations of the estimated cost of the building which is a major drawback of POE.

Another major drawback is sometimes architects refuse to conduct POEs fearing of uncovering problems. If they notice an issue with the construction of the building, then they will definitely need to take certain measures to resolve them. In order to avoid that they skip POEs.Thesehave the ability to highlight problems and point out what is working well and what is not.

Finally, if there is a clear framework or guidelines, designing or construction of a building would be taken more seriously. Elsewise, there is a great chance of people to make mistakes which can overall affect the end result possibly. Hence, POEs seems to be an efficient way to standardize buildings in a general manner.