Appraising the Total Performance of Higher Educational Buildings : a Participatory Approach towards a Knowledge-base System

The results of building evaluation and feed back have been used for centuries, particularly following a major building failure. These evaluations have resulted in regulations that historically have often been the only systematic and research-based source of direction to building design. Regulations evolved into building codes, which began to control critical aspects of buildings. Over the years, new building types emerged, construction grew more complex, and additional aspects of design were codified. When psychological and sociological considerations were linked to design, the study of environment and human behaviour became a new discipline and knowledge from this discipline was also applied to building evaluations. Assessment of the performance of buildings of institutions delivering higher educational services has become a matter of particular interest to the government seeking to increase the effectiveness of educational provision and maximise value for money. This paper presents initial findings of the study of Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) : the process of evaluating buildings in a systematic manner after they have been built and occupied for some time, including testing a methodology developed for use as a standardised POE method for evaluating in particular the teaching spaces of universities. The paper also highlights the potential of the development of a POE database.