Exploring post occupancy evaluation as a sustainable tool for assessing building performance in developing countries

Abstract

In recent years, the concept of using Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) for building performance assessment has attracted much attention globally because of its benefits in enhancing future design decisions. However, developing countries give little or no concern to the practice of improving design outcomes using POEs. In Nigeria, buildings are rarely evaluated once they are handed over to the clients. This study explored the use of POE as a sustainable tool to assess building performance in developing countries with Nigeria as a case study. The method of data collection was firstly through a systematic literature review where existing and current conceptual body of knowledge in peer-reviewed journals, electronic databases (Science Direct and Google Scholar), conference proceedings, and published articles were appraised; with a specific focus on key issues of POE, such as: its definition, evolution, phases, levels, dimensions, benefits and application as a sustainable tool for building performance. The findings from the literature informed the use of interviews to gather the perception of building professionals on the use of POE for building performance assessment. A total of 117 building professionals including architects, engineers, planners and surveyors were interviewed. The data analysis involved descriptive and inferential statistics (frequency count and simple percentages). The study findings revealed that building occupants are a valuable source of information on building performance and that POE methods should be simple and building typology specific. The interviewees suggested that POEs could provide useful benchmarking data to establish best practices for delivering sustainable building developments in Nigeria. It is expected that the findings of this study will encourage policy makers to consider regulations that will enhance the use of POEs for building performance analyses to feed forward the positive and negative lessons learned to improve the design of current and future building developments in developing countries.