Professor, 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.
Courses
POE + M Research Insights: Towards High-Performance Commercial Buildings and the End of Least Cost Decision-Making
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.