Based on observed trends, the committee makes the following conclusions and recommendations to be considered by government agencies and private organizations responsible for construction programs in general and for conducting POEs in particular. These recommendations recognize the current lack of institutional support for this field, as well as the need to generate a reliable and comprehensive data base. To that end, the committee proposes measures that will: (1) make POE a more systematic process with rigorous procedures, (2) lay the groundwork for a data base of knowledge on building use and performance, and (3) establish a clearinghouse to assemble, maintain and disseminate information generated by POEs.

The committee presents trends, conclusions, recommendations and discussions (in that order) in three sections: (1) policy-related topics that focus on broad policies that should be instituted to make POE more useful and widely used, (2) building process-related topics that focus on procedures in the uses of POE, and (3) technology and techniques-related topics that identify innovative ways in which POEs can be improved.

This section presents three policy-related topics: (1) monitoring building quality and performance, (2) POE data base and clearinghouse information, and (3) POE data and litigation. The committee recommends courses of action that can be implemented to make POE more beneficial to government agencies and private organizations, as well as to improve the planning, design, construction and operation of facilities.

Trend 1. Quality assurance programs are used by many manufacturing concerns to raise consumer confidence and to compete more effectively in world markets. POE addresses a significant part of quality assurance in the building industry. As each facility is evaluated in use, the existing quality of materials and design concepts can be critically assessed, and design criteria can be changed to produce better facilities in the future.

Hidden high operating costs, costly repairs, and dysfunctional facilities have made administrators more aware of the need for quality buildings. This is especially true for those institutions that build many facilities on a recurring basis.

POE also constitutes an “auditing” tool that can be used by the knowledgeable client. Together with construction audits and other recognized financial accounting practices, POE can track performance of a project, document costly changes to the program requirements, and identify critical strengths or weaknesses associated with a particular facility type. POE can be used as a parallel track in the design and construction process, tracking decisions, changes, and outcomes.

Conclusion 1. More emphasis is being placed on quality in our society today. Occupants of facilities expect that same quality in terms of building performance. Organizations in the private and public sectors

are concerned about the price/performance relationship for new facilities and, therefore, want to develop responsive buildings for the lowest possible cost.

Recommendation 1. Government agencies manage and operate a significant real estate portfolio for their own account. This includes offices, hospitals, housing and special use facilities. Agencies should be learning and benefiting more from their extensive design, construction and operational experience. Through POE, they should be applying the lessons learned to reduce operating costs, to design environments that improve productivity, and to build facilities that respond to the rapidly changing requirements of institutional users and clients.

Discussion 1. By evaluating the performance of new and existing facilities in terms of how well they work for the user, agencies can make trade-offs on future projects and target features that have the greatest return in assuring building quality and performance. Furthermore, professionals in the design, construction and facilities management community can exchange information with one another through associations, conferences and written presentations. By exchanging information generated by POEs about buildings in use, they will greatly expand knowledge about how to achieve better quality buildings.

Trend 2. Today there is the technology and capability to develop electronic data bases for use by various participants in the building industry. Some large corporations have already begun developing these data bases to disseminate information to subscribers and other interested users. Certain industries have established clearinghouses to collect, organize, archive and disseminate specialized information. Clearinghouses have helped to advance practice in those fields that build upon precedent and other professionals’ work. In the building industry, several professional groups (such as the International Facilities Management Association and the Building Owners and Managers Association Exchange) are involved in establishing clearinghouse activities. At this time, however, they are not designed to handle POE information.

Conclusion 2. Because the operation of facilities is becoming increasingly complex, the sharing of knowledge and experience takes on added importance. POE results can be organized into a data base format and can be made available to subscribers through a clearinghouse, subscription service, or an electronic data base. Standardized documentation and data collection can be used, and government building projects can be entered and evaluated as part of the data base. The clearinghouse would manage the information and provide a central source of expertise.

Recommendation 2. Government agencies, together with private sector organizations, should create and support: (1) an on-line data base that would contain POE results, design criteria, and other design guidelines, (2) a clearinghouse consisting of electronic data bases, and case studies, and (3) POE networks, directories, conferences, and other ways within government agencies to expedite the exchange of knowledge.

Discussion 2. Various academic and research-oriented associations already have extensive, informal POE networks. Currently, these networks are developed and maintained through voluntary efforts. Federal agencies, at very little expense, could put together a directory of individuals and groups who conduct POEs or who are interested in doing so. Various forms of information exchanges and other supporting materials could be assembled. The data base would be kept updated by incoming POE reports, by special studies related to important design concepts, and by other research. It would be set up so as to be accessible through national networks already established.

A centralized capability to organize, collect and disseminate POE-based knowledge is critically needed. New building projects are usually begun without knowledge of how previous solutions have fared; too often new design is based on architectural trends, aesthetics or first-cost considerations. The cost to the government is enormous as novel building designs fail, buildings do not satisfy the needs of users, and cost overruns mount because of unanticipated problems.

A clearinghouse, as envisioned by the committee, would primarily use electronic data bases that could be accessed by private and public sector users on a fee-for-service basis.

Trend 3. Increased use of litigation in our society raises a concern about the possible use of POE data in

lawsuits. The fear is that responsibility will be attributed from POE data to certain parties, and lawsuits and costly legal expenses may result.

Conclusion 3. The possibility of POE data used in lawsuits may potentially have a crippling effect on the continued development of the field. Actions should be taken to safeguard the use of POE results.

Recommendation 3. In conjunction with other policy actions, adequate information controls and safeguards should to be developed and implemented in any POE program. A legal and ethical code is also required to cover POE use. Public sector agencies, working through the Federal Construction Council, should request the Building Research Board (or similar organization) to develop appropriate procedures and safeguards.

Discussion 3. Safeguards need to be built into any POE program to insure accurate reporting, to minimize nuisance suits, and to protect the parties involved in the design and construction of buildings. If POE becomes associated with punitive litigation in this way, agency personnel may refuse to do POEs. The results of POEs should remain confidential until clearance by the client organization.

This section considers four topics related to POE practice and procedures: (1) the building performance concept and standards, (2) changing human requirements and building technologies, (3) user participation and training, and (4) economics. The committee believes that POE can significantly improve buildings by promoting research-based programming and design. The results of POE can be used to identify key factors about building performance that make the operation and management of buildings more efficient and cost effective.

Trend 4. Higher quality buildings can be developed as POE data bases come into general use. The results of POE will provide designers with an empirical base on the performance of buildings that can be used to assess other buildings and to evaluate new design concepts. The results, factored into the building process through updated codes and revised criteria, will promote greater quality design solutions. Unified and accepted standards allow for the communication and comparison of data from individual studies. Such standards develop a higher level of professionalism in the field; practitioners adhere to these practices, thus allowing for the comparison of findings and the interpretation of results.

Conclusion 4. Buildings are designed based on certain goals and performance requirements that are further clarified by defining explicit, often quantitative, performance criteria and by establishing a range of measured values that will satisfy those criteria. Since many POEs in current practice are ad hoc in character, there is little basis for comparisons or for valid inferences to be drawn. A systematic POE program would enhance the ability of a regulatory agency to verify compliance with the performance features of its codes and standards. Rigorous POEs would fill this need, increasing design flexibility as well.

Recommendation 4. Key indicators and reliable, objective building performance measures should be developed for use in POEs, and as a basis for design criteria, as well as standards and guidelines for a variety of common facility types. In addition, the description and documentation of the buildings being evaluated should be improved.

Discussion 4. A set of key indicators, similar to the economic indicators used in evaluations of the state of the economy, should be used in POEs. These key indicators, associated with other, more standardized methods and procedures, would lead to more reliable results that could be more easily communicated. In addition, efforts should be made to develop performance requirements (e.g., purpose, description, assessment, conclusions of lessons learned, strengths and weaknesses) that can be used at different levels of evaluation—from walk-through POE ratings to more in-depth diagnostic POEs.

Several levels of POE investigation can be undertaken. Each of these levels has somewhat different objectives and requires a somewhat different set of methodologies, procedures, and related formats. These procedures should be standardized so as to allow for the comparability of information and results. Such standardization, including how to handle exceptions, would

allow data to be entered into a data base and could be made available to all pertinent government agencies.

A taxonomy of buildings that describes meaningful categories of features, materials and systems can be developed to create a common basis for comparisons and evaluations. The physical environment that is being evaluated in a POE needs to be adequately described so that one study of that facility type can be related to another. A set of descriptor categories as well as a set of physical, objective measures (e.g., lighting levels on the work surface) should be included.

Trend 5. Users expect environments that are responsive to their needs. Occupants are the critical element in helping organizations to achieve their mission, and facilities must support the needs of building occupants. The introduction of new materials and technologies into the building industry will continue as producers develop new products and applications. This will present opportunities for new design strategies and solutions; it will also present new dangers. Some of these products are tested and evaluated in a laboratory setting, but problems are only identified after an extended period of use (e.g., gases being given off from some office products contributing to poor indoor air quality) or when a disaster occurs (e.g., toxic fumes being produced by the burning of certain plastic materials in furniture). There is a need for evaluating these materials and technologies in use when they are combined with other products or put to unusual and novel uses.

Conclusion 5. New technologies, a consumer ethic, and more education are changing the way people use designed environments. Environments must become more flexible to accommodate frequent changes, and they must be more responsive to provide for newly emerging needs. New materials and technologies allow the designer to create specialized spaces in buildings to house a variety of activities.

New materials (e.g., plastics, bonding agents, and sealants) are being developed for use in buildings, building systems and furniture. Similarly, new technologies are being introduced into buildings that allow for improved building operation or new design options. New computer-based technologies that augment the activities of building occupants are placing new demands on building systems and performance.

Recommendation 5. POE programs should be developed that allow facility management to assess and plan for the changing requirements of building occupants. POEs can be used to evaluate existing buildings, regularly assess users’ perceptions of the facilities, and plan for necessary changes based on user needs.

POE practices should be employed to evaluate new materials and technologies in actual use. Prototypes or representative cases should be identified and studied; the results from evaluations could then be generalized to future applications.

Discussion 5. Organizations change to meet new conditions; as a result, individuals within organizations frequently move or change activities. A POE program that regularly evaluates facilities from the users’ perspective can respond to these ongoing changes. New needs can be anticipated; facilities can be fine-tuned or retrofitted. Building maintenance priorities can be established on safety concerns and occupants’ needs. Facility management can then supply environments that are flexible, respond to the changing needs of users, and are satisfying places in which to live and work.

A POE program, especially one that incorporates results into clearinghouses and electronic data bases, can be used to spot potential problems or trends across various facility types before a disaster occurs or a serious health hazard develops. With an early identification program, agencies can avoid possible litigation or costly retrofits to resolve health-related problems. Liaisons with other agencies that act on behalf of the public welfare or conduct research related to health and safety problems could be established. Liaisons with product testing laboratories, manufacturing associations or professional societies would also promote the sharing of results and rapid communication if potential problems were identified. POE programs could provide a testing capability for building products, materials and technologies in actual use. These evaluations could also furnish valuable research data for product modifications.

Trend 6. User participation: Focus groups, user panels, surveys and other forms of market research are used extensively in consumer product development to establish user preferences and product acceptance. User behavior patterns and human factor considerations have been recently added to product development efforts.

Training: Organizations that develop and manage facilities for their own users are finding it increasingly necessary to professionalize their in-house staff, which is expected to be proactive (i.e., anticipate change and plan for change). Such an expectation of professionalism requires more training of existing in-house staff.

Conclusion 6. User participation: User participation is an accepted practice, which in the building field can boost morale, improve office productivity, and provide other user benefits.

Training: As organizations professionalize their facilities management staff, they need to provide specialized training and education programs. These programs should deal with planning and implementing change, using the environment to support organizational objectives, involving users in the planning process, and implementing facilities management programs.

Recommendation 6. User participation: POE programs that solicit end user feedback and information should be used to heighten participation in the design of new facilities or in improving existing ones.

Training: Certification or other training programs should be developed to educate agency personnel or their consultants regarding concepts and techniques of conducting POEs.

Discussion 6. User participation: Typically, client representatives of the building owner make decisions for most people in the organization. Often, they do not have first-hand experience of various functions, nor do they know the personal preferences of individuals. It would be more effective to have end users participate by expressing attitudes, personal preferences, behavioral styles, and other characteristics of a more personal nature. This higher level of participation by users would provide a richer representation of user needs from which to develop new design solutions.

Training: Pilot training programs could be created by knowledgeable POE practitioners to train in-house personnel or consultants on how to do POEs. This could be done through universities and technical schools. Printed instructional material could be supplemented by videotaped materials of case studies, or tutorials documenting how a POE is conducted. Seminars or workshops could also be established for designers, facility managers, building operators, and real estate consultants. Professional associations such as the International Facilities Management Association, the Building Owners Management Association, the National Office Products Association, and others intimately involved with the building industry should be enlisted in this training effort.

Trend 7. Life-cycle costing, including the costs of operation, maintenance, and other facility-related activities, is an increasingly important consideration for institutions that develop their own facilities. Facility managers can adopt POE procedures to project the quality of a facility that they build, as well as to evaluate its performance over time.

Conclusion 7. Increasingly, organizations are becoming more aware of the value of the fixed asset base which they own, manage and operate. Facilities management as a professional occupational category has also grown, as owners adopt a more active posture regarding the management of their facilities. It is expected that POE will generate significant cost savings by improving design criteria, by correcting problems that are discovered after building occupancy, and by improving the overall building stock over the long term.

Recommendation 7. POEs should become part of the management process used by facility managers, building operators, and others responsible for fixed asset management, new facility development, or design. Research on building economics and the overall life-cycle costs associated with a facility should be conducted. Research should also be done on the costs of POEs, including savings that are realized as a result of POEs.

Discussion 7. There has been a growing recognition of the economic importance of high quality buildings and their management as fixed assets. Similar to the human resource or information resources management functions, facility management is concerned with the day-to-day operations and, occasionally, with new building projects.

The economics of building occupancy are related to the housing of personnel, technology and various functions of an agency and should be viewed from a building life-cycle perspective. Similarly, POE should be seen as part of the overall building process, and not as

singular case studies. To that end, more economic research is needed to document savings and opportunities.

As POE is increasingly used to provide the industry with empirical data about buildings in use, POE results can document manufacturers’ claims, give performance profiles of individual buildings systems, and provide information about possible trade-offs.

This section reviews four areas of POE practice pertaining to: (1) smart buildings, (2) computer-based systems, (3) simulations, and (4) mathematical modeling.

Trend 8. It is now possible to build into a facility the capability to monitor constantly or frequently occupants’ responses. Individuals are able to provide feedback to facility managers through interactive, computerized “check-out” procedures. It may soon become possible to develop electronically monitored environments that respond to commands of building occupants. There will also be the capability of providing electronically adjusting environments that automatically change to meet the needs of the occupants.

Conclusion 8. With the introduction of electronic technology and building control systems into most facility types, new opportunities exist to develop more sophisticated evaluation methods and procedures.

Recommendation 8. The committee encourages the use of existing and new integrated building monitoring systems (such as security sensors, video monitors, and telephones) to provide data and to record occupants’ feedback in response to building conditions. Research should be undertaken to develop on-line sensors, wear and tear indicators, and other potentially beneficial applications of monitoring technology to be used in POE programs.

Discussion 8. Many existing building monitoring systems and technologies routinely report on ambient conditions or on ongoing activities in buildings. Security cameras and movement sensors that regulate lighting, telephones, and other systems can be used to provide POE data and feedback to facility managers.

Trend 9. New computer-based technologies offer designers and end users the capability of visualizing and testing design concepts before they are actually built. They also offer more dynamic ways of sharing information and examining “what if” options in design.

Conclusion 9. How results of POE work or how graphical data are presented to an untrained audience is important. Long, written reports or complex graphics can lead to incorrect conclusions. Computer-based technologies, including computer-aided design (CAD) systems, offer many opportunities to educate an untrained audience and to communicate effectively new information.

Recommendation 9. The committee recommends the development of computer-based reporting formats that give POE practitioners the ability to communicate effectively their findings to a nontechnical audience. Alternative reporting and presentation formats should also be investigated.

Discussion 9. A CAD system could be linked to a POE data base to provide feedback on particular design configurations and strategies. CAD-generated materials could be reviewed and tested with prospective occupants before building construction begins. Psychological imaging, problem solving, and idea generation exercises could be used to augment the CAD capability in order to produce realistic images of actual occupancy experiences. For example, in Japan some developers already use CAD systems to help people design new homes. After prospective buyers play “what if” games with the sales person, a particular design is selected, and a CAD system produces information for the pre-fabrication of the housing units, including scheduling and delivery to the building site.

Trend 10. Increasingly, electronic simulations are used to provide realistic experiences of actual live situations. The pilot trainer simulator is an example of this trend.

Simulators provide airplane pilots with the actual experiences, perceptual information, and other realistic inputs to simulate a situation or set of conditions that they might experience. Computers simulate instru-

mentation readings that appear in response to the pilot’s control changes, and video displays provide them with realistic views of what they will encounter at different airports.

Conclusion 10. Computer simulations, used now in other industries, will provide POE practitioners with the tools and techniques to anticipate the findings of a POE before the building is built and occupied, enabling the end user to have input at the conceptual and design phases of the building process.

Recommendation 10. Computer simulations, such as full scale and smaller scale mock-ups, should be developed and used to complement POEs.

Discussion 10. Today, various psychological or other tests are used to evaluate situations such as job functions, living in a space capsule, or college performance. Some manufacturers have developed software programs that allow the evaluation of a machine part before it is produced. Simulation or evaluation tests could be developed to anticipate the significant findings that might be uncovered by POEs. While they will not remove the need for POEs, these simulations could provide critical feedback to designers.

Trend 11. Mathematical models are used to evaluate various economic, physical and political scenarios that could develop under certain conditions or assumptions. Scientists studying weather, geological events such as earthquakes, regional ecologies, and other natural systems rely on mathematical computer modeling to simulate possible outcomes and their likelihood of occurrence.

Conclusion 11. With availability of powerful computers and sophisticated software, it is becoming easier to use mathematical models for environmental design evaluations such as POEs.

Recommendation 11. Ways should be examined that allow the use of POE in early phases of building programming and design, before a building is actually completed and occupied. Simulations to replicate POEs, mathematical or statistical formulations, or expert computer systems may allow these types of pre-occupancy evaluations to be carried out.

Discussion 11. Models using POE information could be developed with the goal that at some time in the future the building industry will be able to do POE-type testing early in the programming phase of the building process. Planners would be able to ask “what if” questions and test them under various occupancy scenarios. Once POE findings are systematized, as called for in this report, it will become possible to apply mathematical and statistical models in the hope that some better predictability in design can be achieved.