Post Occupancy Evaluation
The Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE, also Post-Occupancy Evaluation) is a use-oriented form of success assessment that has been used in urban development since the 1960s and is particularly popular in the USA and Canada. With the help of a POU it can be determined to what extent the residents or other users of a building or building complex accept its architectural design. It can therefore only be carried out after a building has been used. There is no German equivalent of the term.
Methodical approach
The aim of the POE is to evaluate the success of building and urban planning measures, taking into account the experiences of the users of buildings or building complexes. For this purpose, users are asked to evaluate the building after completion and use of a building, whereby various survey and survey methods can be used. The focus is on usage-oriented properties, i. H. in a residential building primarily the cosiness of the facility, in an office building it is more the functionality. In order to take into account adjustment and familiarization processes on the part of the user, a post occupancy evaluation is usually not carried out selectively, but is carried out continuously on the basis of repeated surveys with the same instruments.
Survey methods
User experiences and evaluations can be collected using "classic" survey instruments such as interviews , questionnaires or group discussions , but survey methods adapted to post occupancy evaluation such as walkthrough are also used . A tour is carried out with individual users as well as user groups, during which specific questions are asked about usage-relevant properties. The search for signs of wear or forms of vandalism can also be part of a POU. For example, the emergence of beaten paths indicates that the routes actually intended are not accepted by all potential users.
Terminology
The use of the term "Post Occupancy" is ambiguous (also in the English-speaking world) as it implies that the evaluation will only be carried out after the end of use. In fact, the term is intended to express that the survey takes place after the use has been put into operation.
literature
- Collins, Belinda L; Fisher, Will; Gillett, Gary & Marans, Robert W .: Second-Level Post-Occupation Evaluation Analysis . Journal of the Illuminating Engineering Society, 1990 ( ies.org [PDF; 1,4 MB ]).
- Fischer: Sustainable urban development . Fraunhofer UMSICHT, Hagen 2008.
- Keul & Pienert: Post-Occupancy Evaluation of 15 Settlements in Vienna Housing . Environmental Psychology 1 (2), 52-57, 1997.
- Preiser, Rabiniwitz & White: Post Occupancy Evaluation . Van Nostrans Reinhold, New York 1988.
- Straka, Vera & Aleksic, Mila: Post-Occupancy Evaluation: Three Schools from Greater Toronto . PLEA2009 - 26th Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture, Quebec City, Canada, 2009 ( ulaval.ca [PDF; 2.5 MB ]).
Web links
- Guide to Post Occupancy Evaluation of the University of Westminster