Gap theory based post-occupancy evaluation (GTbPOE) of dormitory building performance: A case study and a comparative analysis. (November 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hou, Huiying (Cynthia); Lai, Joseph H.K.; Edwards, David
• Is Part Of: Building and environment. Volume 185(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-11
• Subjects: Adaptation -- AHP -- POE -- Perception -- Student -- University -- User; Buildings -- Environmental engineering -- Periodicals; Building -- Research -- Periodicals; Constructions -- Technique de l'environnement -- Périodiques; Electronic journals; 696
• DOI: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2020.107312
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0360-1323

Abstract

Abstract: Student housing significantly influences the quality and competitiveness of the university education environment. Whereas the traditional post-occupancy evaluations (POEs) of buildings have typically focussed on investigating users' satisfaction, an earlier study developed the gap theory based post-occupancy evaluation (GTbPOE) method, by which both the users' expectation and satisfaction (viz. performance gap) of a university dormitory were investigated. To validate the applicability of the GTbPOE method, further research was undertaken to evaluate the building performance of another dormitory. Using face-to-face interviews, responses of 104 dormitory users were collected, of which the relative importance ratings of six essential aspects (namely: visual comfort, thermal comfort, aural comfort, fire safety, hygiene, and communication via information technology) were analyzed via the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). A series of gap analyses on the users' expectation and satisfaction levels corroborated the existence of the adaptation effect on the users' perception: that is, the longer the stay, the smaller the performance gap. A comparative analysis on the findings between the two dormitories - one from the earlier study and the other from the present study - further demonstrated the usefulness of the GTbPOE method in benchmarking building performance. Adoption of this method in future POE studies will enable reliable identification of any shortcoming in building performance and hence, can form the basis for improvement measures to augment the performance of buildings within the built environment. Highlights: Used AHP to process the interview responses of 104 dormitory users. Conducted gap analyses on the users' expectation and satisfaction levels. The adaptation effect existed in the users' perception of building performance. Validated the gap theory based post-occupancy evaluation (GTbPOE) method. Made comparative analyses on the building performance between two dormitories.