Ricerc@Sapienza

The Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) is a key design goal to be achieved in building construction, since it strongly influences occupant¿s comfort, health, wellbeing and productivity. This ambition is especially relevant in public buildings, such as offices, schools, and libraries. Valuing the IEQ can be extremely challenging due to the involvement of psychological, physical and environmental factors. The "Post Occupancy Evaluation" (POE) is a "systematic evaluation of the effectiveness of design in the built environment from the occupants' point of view" (Preiser, 1995). Generally, POE denotes different methods of collecting and disseminating data on existing buildings that have been occupied for a certain period, and encompasses different research topics: air quality; thermal comfort; users' behaviours and influence on air temperature and humidity control; lighting and acoustic quality. POE methodologies are considered critical in order to guide and progress human-centred architecture. Goals, strategies, methodologies and tools for carrying out POE are focused on researches dealing with commonly used methods and tools, such as interviews, questionnaires, surveys, templates and focus groups. The evaluation approaches for indoor quality assessment follow three main strategies: the first one is aimed at measuring physical parameters related to indoor environments; the second one enquiries directly the users and their physical and psychological satisfaction; the third one tends to integrate the previous two. In Italy, the POE approach is still in a developing phase and has been applied mainly on public buildings. Among the various advantages offered, considering the relevant heritage building stock present in Italy, the POE represents a critical success factor in guiding practitioners and local administrators towards the correct assessment of most appropriate re-functioning of historical buildings.