A programmatic approach to post-occupancy evaluation

There is a rapidly growing recognition of the need, by architects and others concerned with the quality of our building efforts, for a systematic post-occupancy evaluation process. The regular use of such a process is considered essential if we are to learn effectively from our building experiences. Only by gaining objective data on the results of building design, construction and use, and using this data in subsequent designs or to build an objective knowledge base for architecture can the design and building process be complete. Closing the feedback loop by doing systematic evaluation is an essential step. The building industry has very little experience with systematic building evaluation. Most evaluation which has been done by architects has been highly personal and subjective. This study reviews concepts and experiences from program evaluation as a guide for the development of systematic building evaluation. Program evaluation is a field of applied sociology which has been concentrating, over the last 20 years, on the development and use of systematic evaluation procedures to assess social programs. There are similarities between social programs and building projects which suggest that evaluation ideas could be transferred. Both are undertaken in response to human goals or purposes, both are planned to have some affect on people and their activities, and both have specific outcomes and impacts. In this study, selected ideas from program evaluation have been combined with some lessons learned from past efforts at systematic building evaluation to form a programmatic post-occupancy evaluation process. The study concludes that a programmatic post-occupancy evaluation process as proposed in this study could provide the basis for a regular building evaluation system. Program evaluation experience is a valuable source of experience which can and should be used to guide the development of systematic building evaluation. Given the recognized need for objective information about buildings and their use from outside and within the building professions, it is inevitable that a systematic evaluation process like the one presented in this study will soon come into use. Architects must take a positive, active role in this development or they will become followers rather than leaders in the establishment of an objective knowledge base for their profession.Applied Science, Faculty ofArchitecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA), School ofGraduat