POE + M Research Insights: Towards High-Performance Commercial Buildings and the End of Least Cost Decision-Making
AIAU25-BPKC03
Included in subscription
1
LU|HSW
Course expires on: 08/27/2026
Included in subscription
Description
Wednesday, September 10, 2025 | 2-3pm ET
Post Occupancy Evaluations (POEs) that ensure records of building attributes, user satisfaction and measurements are key to advancing high performance building systems and operations and ending the cycle of least cost decision-making. This presentation will introduce a robust approach to post occupancy evaluation that can quantify the benefits of improving spatial, thermal, visual, acoustic and air quality in buildings, illustrated with new and retrofit commercial buildings. The presentation will summarize the findings of over 80 commercial building studies undertaken by faculty and students in the Carnegie Mellon Center for Building Performance & Diagnostics in collaboration with government and corporate property owners. Drawing upon extensive research, the discussion will highlight strategies for utilizing POE findings to iteratively improve building systems and operations, ultimately fostering greater occupant well-being and productivity. This session will also touch upon available measurement toolkits and affordable field assessment strategies.
Learning Objectives
Assess the critical technical attributes of building systems that should be recorded to iteratively improve spatial, thermal, air, visual, and acoustic quality in commercial buildings.
Critique the different methodologies for capturing short-term and long-term user satisfaction related to spatial, thermal, air, visual, and acoustic quality, as well as occupant perceptions of well-being, health, and productivity within commercial environments.
Investigate available measurement toolkits and cost-effective strategies for conducting both short-term and long-term field assessments of thermal, air, light, and acoustic quality in commercial buildings.
Explore various approaches for establishing correlations between design choices in building systems (such as façade, HVAC, lighting, and interior layouts) and both measured indoor environmental conditions and user satisfaction in commercial buildings.
Presented in partnership with the Building Performance Knowledge Community (BPKC).
Dr. Ying Hua has worked on a large volume of empirical studies on the impact of building environmental and spatial qualities on occupants’ perception, health and well-being, and performance; methodology and tools for building post-occupancy evaluation (POE); and the interaction between occupants and built environments and the resulted influence on both human experience and sustainability. It is her goal to inform the design, operation, management, and renovation of buildings to enhance the quality of environments, support the health and performance of their occupants, facilitate the delivery of business goals and create new values; and to mitigate the building sector's impact on global climate change.
Ying Hua has a Bachelor of Architecture and a Master of Engineering in Building Science & Technology from Zhejiang University (China), and a Ph.D. in Building Performance & Diagnostics from Carnegie Mellon University.
Vivian Loftness, FAIA, LEEDFellow, is University Professor and Paul Mellon Chair in Sustainability, serving a decade as Head of the School of Architecture at Carnegie Mellon. With over 35 years of industry and government funding, she is a key member of Carnegie Mellon’s leadership in sustainability, author of eight book chapters and editor of the Springer Reference Encyclopedia Sustainable Built Environments. Vivian Loftness has a Bachelors of Science and a Masters of Architecture from MIT.
Anushree Parkhi is a board member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) – National Building Performance Knowledge Community (BPKC). With a background in architecture and a strong passion for high-performance buildings and enclosure design, she is particularly focused on bridging aesthetics, performance, and constructability in the built environment.
She earned her Master’s degree in Architecture with a concentration in Building Performance from the University of Illinois in May 2024. Following graduation, she joined Heintges as a Technical Façade Designer, where she contributed to a range of complex curtain wall and cladding systems. Currently, she continues her work in the field of high-performing façades as a Junior Building Physicist at Island Facades, where she supports the integration of building science principles into envelope design and analysis.
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