Introduction
The interior design process involves the creation of a new facility description. Usually, it is represented by elaborate specifications and plans that will be implemented during the construction phase of a project. There are several operational tasks that are involved in the interior design process. The entire project management cycle includes such processes as scheduling, bidding s, budget estimate, contract admin, deficiency list and project completion, and post-occupancy evaluation. Each of these steps is important in its own merit. However, there are growing concerns within the building and project management industry that the post-occupancy evaluation process is not fully embraced by designers and architects (Ahmadi et al., 2016). It is thus against this backdrop that this paper argues in favor of the optimization of the post-occupancy evaluation process.
Post-Occupancy Evaluation
Evaluating and measuring the performance of a building is not a new concept. One of the key objectives of design and architecture is indeed to ensure that the development project functions and performs the way it was intended to. However, lately, there has been an increasing interest in the functionality of buildings from different perspectives of humans. For instance, people are becoming more environmentally conscious and increasingly question the energy efficiency of buildings. They want to know how the layout and the building’s specific design directly impact their day-to-day utilization of the building. This underscores the significance of evaluating the performance of a building based on several attributes beyond physical functionality.
The process of post-occupancy evaluation is one of the most effective ways of informing the practice of design. An interior designer relies on it to revisit a project after it has been occupied to establish if the building is operating as it was intended or not. A post-occupancy evaluation process should give rise to what is known as “lessons Learned.” Typically, this is the information that entails what worked and what did not work obtained from evaluating a building project. These lessons should act as decision-making tools to guide the continuous improvements of the building (Ahmadi et al., 2016). The post-occupancy evaluation is conducted through a series of walk-throughs and inspections to investigate the systems, subsystems, and elements of the building. This can be achieved through performance metrics recording, interviewing different stakeholders, and observations.
Stakeholder groups to be interviewed comprise persons who participated in the design of the building, those who maintain and manage the building, as well as those who utilize and occupy the building. They can be categorized into three groups: employees, clients, and professionals. Employees are those who offer various services to the building. Clients are those individuals who visit the building to get different services offered within it. Meanwhile, professionals are those who delivered the final building as well as those who operate, maintain, and manage it.
The ultimate goal of the post-occupancy evaluation process can be determined by measuring the building’s performance and productivity. It is the expectation of every stakeholder involved that the operational and implementation phase of the building is characterized by reduced costs. Some of the costs involved in the operations of a building include staffing, replacement, utility, water, landscaping, repair, janitorial, and maintenance. Therefore, during the post-occupational evaluation exercises, these are the primary areas to be looked at (Ahmadi et al., 2016). The performances of these segments indicate either a positive or a negative post-occupational evaluation result.
Reducing staffing and productivity costs improves the morale of employees in addition to making work processes and places more efficient. On the other hand, if systems are optimized, utility costs are, in turn, reduced. This results in lighting and mechanical systems that are more efficient. The evaluation exercise should also factor in the issue of reduced usage of water by inspecting if efficient and improved plumbing fixtures and water features are in place to reduce water wastage. Meanwhile, a building that boasts improved finishes, professional expertise, and quality materials will not need a lot of money for maintenance and repairs.
The post-occupancy evaluation process begins with outlining the key elements that need to be evaluated and inspected. Both the interior and exterior environments of the building should be evaluated during the process. Evaluating the exterior environment helps in determining whether employees, pedestrians, vehicles, and clients have easy access to it or not. It also seeks to establish if physical access security features are operational as was intended in the design and if the perimeter functions according to plan. The facility is also evaluated in terms of the impacts it has on traffic, energy resources, and open spaces (Ahmadi et al., 2016). It is equally vital to find out if persons living with disabilities can access the building as well as its impacts on the environment.
The interior environmental elements to be evaluated include mechanical heating, plumbing, lighting, security as well as fire and safety systems. In evaluating mechanical heating, one should also consider air conditioning and ventilation systems and analyze their ease of use and energy requirements. Plumbing systems evaluation entails observing the fixture performance and quantity, water reuse and consumption, as well as local hot water heating and distribution. When it comes to the evaluation of electrical and lighting systems, the key items to be observed include the levels of natural and artificial glare control, lighting illumination, energy conservation, control measures as well as the availability of exterior views.
It is important to note that post-occupancy evaluation is mostly conducted in educational or hospital buildings to bring forward either positive or negative or both perspectives of the facility. It is not a one-off process but can rather be done at different time horizons, say after six months, one year, and two years of occupation, respectively. The lessons learned from this process are vital for they help in further improvement of the next project. Both the designer and the client of the building stand to benefit from the process. However, the process requires the involvement of different specialists who come up with their own goals and initiatives. This can be a barrier to the process as it tends to remove focus from the priority areas.
Post-occupancy evaluation is a robust framework that acts as a tool for validating the effectiveness of a building facility. As a project management process, it is an important stage that seeks to authenticate all the previous stages. The information gathered from this stage is a pointer to the things that either went wrong or right in the earlier processes and stages. The scope of the post-occupancy evaluation is quite broad and requires the knowledge of an expert who was directly involved in the design phase of the building. Nonetheless, the evaluation process should be extended to the adjacent streets, facilities, and other installations. In a nutshell, the post-occupancy evaluation should mainly focus on the exterior site, the functional spaces, wayfinding and circulation, building enclosures, accessibility, plumbing, electrical, fire, safety, and security systems. This justifies the reason why the post-occupancy evaluation process should be optimized in project management.
Reference
Ahmadi, R. T., Saiki, D., & Ellis, C. (2016). Post-Occupancy Evaluation an Academic Building: Lessons to Learn. Journal of Applied Sciences and Art, 1(2), 1-15. Web.