Post occupancy evaluation

In the post- occupancy evaluation (POE, and post- occupancy evaluation ) is a usage-based form of success validation that comes since the 1960s for use in the urban area, and is often used especially in the U.S. and Canada. With the help of a POU can be determined the extent to which residents or other users of a building or group of buildings assume its architectural design. It can therefore be carried out only after they are put into a building. A German -language equivalent of the concept does not exist.

Methodological approach

The aim of the POE is to evaluate the success of building and urban planning measures taking into account the experience of the users of buildings or building complexes. For this purpose, users are requested by a building completion and putting into use of a review of the building, with a wide variety of interview and survey methods can be used. This user-oriented features in the foreground, ie in a residential building is primarily the livability of the system in an office building on the other hand more functionality. To account for adaptation and habituation processes on the part of users, a post occupancy evaluation is done usually not selective, but is performed on the basis of repeated surveys continuously with the same instruments.

Survey methods

The collection of user experiences and assessments may be based on "classic" survey instruments such as interviews, questionnaires or group discussions, but also be used to the post occupancy evaluation adapted survey methods such as the so-called walkthrough. It also user groups is carried out by a tour with individual users but, under which specific questions are asked to use relevant properties. The search for signs of wear or forms of vandalism may be part of a POU. For example, indicates the formation of dirt tracks out that actually the designated routes are not accepted by all potential users.

Terminology

The use of the term "post- occupancy " (also in the English language ) missdeutig because it implies that the evaluation is conducted only after the termination of the use. In fact, to be expressed with the term but that the collection after the commissioning of use occurs.