The evolution of building performance evaluation: an introduction

The evolution of building performance evaluation: an introduction

A rational building design process using feedback from ongoing evaluation can be conceptualized as a loop, whereby information fed back through continuous evaluation leads to better informed design assumptions, and ultimately, to better solutions. By using such a Chap-01.qxd 05/11/2004 22:28 PM Page 3 process, decision-makers are able to make better and more informed user-oriented design decisions. They are able to access building type-specific information gathered from evaluative research that is stored and updated in databases. Different theoretical approaches to BPE were first presented in the book Building Evaluation (Preiser, 1989). Since then, there is not only increased interest and activity in this area of concern, both in the private and public sectors – for example, Learning From our Buildings (Federal Facilities Council, 2001) – but post-occupancy evaluation also continues to expand in the United States and other, mostly industrialized, nations around the world. Examples from four continents are included in this book. In addition, the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB, 2003) has published a book on Improving Building Performance, which allows every architect in the USA to study and be tested in this field of endeavour, as part of professional development and continuing education. The theoretical foundation of BPE is adapted from the interdisciplinary field of cybernetics, which is defined as ‘the study of human control functions and of mechanical and electronic systems designed to replace them, involving the application of statistical mechanics to communication engineering’ (Infoplease Dictionary, 2003). A systems model is proposed that is appropriate for this field because it holistically links diverse phenomena that influence relationships between people, processes and their surroundings, including the physical, social and cultural environments. Like any other living species, humans are organisms adjusting to a dynamic, ever-changing environment, and the interactive nature of relationships between people and their surroundings is usefully represented by the systems concept. Specifically, the systems approach to environmental research studies the impact of human actions on the physical environment – both built and natural – and vice versa. BPE has built on this tradition. 4 Introduction and Overview Figure 1.1 Basic feedback system. Source: Architectural Research Consultants, Albuquerque, NM. Chap-01.qxd 05/11/2004 22:28 PM Page 4 It is multi-disciplinary and it generates mostly applied research that, until recently, lacked a coherent theoretical framework. The nature of basic feedback systems was discussed by von Foerster (1985). In the context of the building industry (Preiser, 1991, 2001), the strategic planner, programmer, designer, or other process leader is the effector or driver of the system (see also Figure 9.4 in Chapter 9). In the context of BPE, this can be personnel responsible for any or all phases of building delivery, including the evaluator, who makes comparisons between outcomes which are sensed or experienced by users, and the project goals expressed as performance criteria. In the case of building design, goals and performance criteria are usually documented in the functional programme or brief, and made explicit through performance language, as opposed to specifications for particular solutions and hardware systems, the selection of which are the domain of the designer.

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