Lunch & Learn #17: Dr Jungsoo Kim: Assessing IEQ in buildings: Surveys as a ‘basic’ instrument for data collection

Post-occupancy evaluation (POE) is a systematic process of assessing the performance of buildings that have been occupied for a certain period of time, in particular focusing on occupants and their needs.

Conducting an occupant survey is the most prevalent method of collecting building performance data, providing a snapshot of occupant satisfaction and workplace effectiveness. Therefore POE surveys are recommended by professional and regulatory bodies (e.g. ASHRAE, USGBC and CIBSE) as a ‘basic’ instrument for evaluating a building’s Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ). Various forms of POE questionnaires are in use across the globe.

The most widely used questionnaires, including BOSSA (Building Occupant Survey System Australia), are introduced, and how such a tool enables comparisons between buildings, design features, or operational strategies is discussed. Interesting patterns and phenomena revealed by POE studies conducted around the world are also discussed.

About our speaker 

Dr. Jungsoo Kim is a Senior Lecturer in Building Science at the University of Sydney where he runs a postgraduate program High Performance Buildings aimed at producing built environment professionals with a grasp of the challenges of building design and operation.

He’s a researcher at Indoor Environmental Quality Lab, a major international hub for the research community and the broader building sector to study how different environmental factors affect human comfort, performance and health.

Jungsoo is also a active member of international working group under International Energy Agency’s Energy in Buildings and Communities Program (IEA-EBC).

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