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Getting results from Post Occupancy Evaluation
The benefits
Benefits of Post Occupancy Evaluation include:
- Fine tuning new buildings: By understanding how buildings
support and/or frustrate activities, they can be fine-tuned and
management practices adjusted. Very often, slight adjustments
to buildings and the ways they are used offer significant benefits
to users.
- Improving design for future buildings: By designing
new facilities with an understanding of how similar buildings
perform in-use, mistakes can be avoided and successful design
features capitalised upon.
- Accountability: Post Occupancy Evaluation is a valuable
tool for assessing building quality - essential when organisations
are required to demonstrate that building programmes are being
responsibly managed.
- Cost savings: Post Occupancy Evaluation identifies ways
people can use buildings and equipment more efficiently and more
cost-effectively. Dysfunctional or seldom-used building features
can be eliminated or replaced.
- Renovating existing buildings: Post Occupancy Evaluation
is an important tool in planning the refurbishment of existing
buildings. It helps clarify perceived strengths and weaknesses
to focus resources where they are needed. It is also used to identify
where building design adjustments are needed to support changing
practices, markets, legislation and social trends.
- Staff and/or customer relations: Post Occupancy Evaluation
involves building users in defining how buildings work for them.
This participation has been shown to engender greater commitment
to solutions, and more willingness to accept shortcomings.
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The process
A typical Post Occupancy Evaluation has three phases:
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- Preparation (2-3 weeks): Identification of user groups,
timetabling, selection of participants, letters of invitation.
- Interviews (1 week): Small groups of like users are interviewed
while walking through the building, which provides the prompt
for their comments and observations. A review session is held
to verify comments, establish priorities and review the process.
Observation studies and written questionnaires may also be used.
- Analysis & Reporting (3-6 weeks): Documentation of participant
findings, generation of recommendations, compilation of a report
and presentation.
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