The Uses and Boundaries of Post Occupancy Evaluation

POE is now 25 years old. It has rapidly developed and is now valued as a process that can help improve the performance of the built environment. This paper discusses the uses and boundaries of POE. Phases in the development of POE in the 1960's, 70's and 80's are examined and characteristics of POEs in these decades are discussed in terms of the 1) types and size of buildings evaluated, 2) variables included in the evaluation, 3) the relationships among the variables, and 4) intentions of the investigation. POE is increasingly being used and found useful by large clients to locate, plan and design facilities. Research continues in POE particularly in the area of exploring the influence of the environment on behavior, particularly in the workplace. The boundaries of POE applications are blurred, particularly in two areas: (1) The boundaries and interaction of environmental affects with non-environmental variables and (2) the role of technological advance in communications and computing changing the locations and nature of many activities. The emergence of databases and clearinghouses for building types is beginning and will help considerably, from an applied point of view, in improving building performance.