Gap theory based post-occupancy evaluation (GTbPOE) of dormitory building performance: A case study and a comparative...

Area of Science:

• Building Performance Evaluation
• Environmental Psychology
• Architectural Science

Background:

• Student housing quality impacts university education.
• Traditional post-occupancy evaluations (POEs) focus on user satisfaction.
• The gap theory based post-occupancy evaluation (GTbPOE) method assesses user expectation and satisfaction.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate the applicability of the GTbPOE method in a new dormitory setting.
• To investigate the relationship between length of stay and perceived building performance.
• To benchmark building performance across different student housing facilities.

Main Methods:

• Conducted face-to-face interviews with 104 dormitory users.
• Utilized the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to analyze the importance of six key aspects (visual, thermal, aural comfort, fire safety, hygiene, IT communication).
• Performed gap analyses to compare user expectations with satisfaction levels.

Main Results:

• Confirmed the adaptation effect: longer stays correlate with a smaller performance gap.
• Identified specific areas influencing student housing satisfaction.
• Demonstrated the GTbPOE method's effectiveness in benchmarking building performance through comparative analysis of two dormitories.

Conclusions:

• The GTbPOE method reliably identifies shortcomings in student housing performance.
• The adaptation effect influences user perception of building performance.
• GTbPOE provides a basis for targeted improvements in the built environment of student accommodations.