Magnitude, causes, and solutions of the performance gap of buildings: A review

Abstract

The performance gap of buildings is commonly defined as the difference between the performance value predicted in the design stage and that measured in the post-occupancy stage. Knowledge about the performance gap of buildings is valuable in many aspects and thus is a research subject drawing much attention. Important questions that should be asked include: (1) Definition: what is the performance gap of buildings? (2) Magnitude: how large is the performance gap of buildings? (3) Techniques: how to determine the performance gap of buildings? (4) Causes: what are the reasons leading to the performance gap of buildings? (5) Solutions: how to bridge the performance gap of buildings. By collecting and analyzing more than 20 published works with reported data on the performance gap of buildings and other research articles, these important questions are addressed. Through this review state-of-the-art knowledge regarding the performance gap of buildings is presented. Major conclusions are drawn and future research directions are pointed out.