Modeling relative influence of environmental and sociocultural factors on context-specific functions

Abstract

Traditional models in building physics are based on theories in physics and physiology, typically characterized
by a-contextual settings and domain-specific articulations. It is, however, commonly understood
and appreciated that physics and physiology, alone, do not entirely explain observed patterns of
user behavior in buildings- in-use, and that people do not experience various aspects of a setting in
isolation. This study at the Georgia Institute of Technology, using Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE)
data from 26 courtrooms, developed a set of models that: 1) integrated variables from multiple domains,
2) developed a smaller set of aggregated functional dimensions intuitive to building stake-holders, 3)
were context specific, 4) captured instrumental as well as abstract functions, and 5) articulated the
relative influence of variables on the aggregated outcome measures. POEs started as a methodology to
provide user input in building design and has expanded to a practice that incorporates user feedback
along with technical and financial performance. Starting with one-off studies during the late 1960s,
POEs have expanded considerably in terms of building types, tools, methods, and scope. The POE data
in this study included physical, environmental, as well as user attribute data. Physical and environmental
data were collected using scientific instruments widely accepted in the building evaluation
community. User evaluations of the courtrooms on multiple dimensions were collected using 7-point
ordinal scale measures. Environmental and user attribute data were regressed on aggregated performance
dimensions (resulting from Principal Component Analyses) to arrive at the integrated models,
presented in this paper. The authors argue that the modeling approach supplements the traditional
paradigm in two ways: 1) by validating traditional building physics models, and 2) by enabling
validation from the clients’ perspective, focused on higher-level functional requirements.