Progress 10/01/08 to 09/30/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Goals 1 and 2 were to develop, pre-test, and pilot a self-administered, Internet-based, post-occupancy evaluation (POE) instrument that measures human satisfaction and performance in rural and urban Minnesota buildings that meet sustainable interior environment (from LEED and CSBR) and human behavior design criteria. We developed three levels of a Sustainable Post-Occupancy Evaluation Survey (SPOES), Scan, Core, and Advanced. The Scan Level is required of all buildings that use the B3-MSDG (Benchmarks, Buildings, and Beyond-Minnesota Sustainable Design Guidelines). It focuses on occupant satisfaction with the facility and primary workstation at the category variable level. The Core Level includes the Scan questions and adds those related to in-depth or attribute level of satisfaction with the facility and primary workspace. The Advanced Level includes question from the Core Level and adds occupant performance questions as well. These instruments were developed on a conceptual framework of category and attribute level variables, piloted in several buildings, and used to collect date in five new buildings. We are now on our second round with some of these buildings. Goal 3 was to disseminate findings of the instrument development and results of the building studies to the public and the academy in traditional and non-traditional methods. Methods of dissemination included reporting instrument development, conceptual framework, and case study findings at design and human behavior conferences and publications in national and international refereed journals. Eight presentations were made, four manuscripts have been published in refereed journals, and three manuscripts have been submitted and await acceptance. PARTICIPANTS: Denise A. Guerin, PhD, PI, Professor, Interior Design, College of Design (CDes) Jonee Kulman Brigham, BArch, Research Associate, CSBR, CDes Hye-Young Kim, PhD, Assistant Professor, Researcher and Statistician, CDes SeonMi Choi, PhD, Graduate Assistant, Interior Design, CDes Angelita Scott, Graduate Assistant, Interior Design, CDes Abimbola Asojo, PhD, Associate Professor, Interior Design, CDes TARGET AUDIENCES: The target audience was the public and the academy. The public includes a wide audience such as interior designers, architects, landscape architects, engineers, urban designers, housing specialists, builders, and contractors. The academy includes faculty and researchers of design, the built environment, human behavior, and environmental psychology. An additional and important audience is the CSBR, with whom we worked. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: One of the planned dissemination methods was to house the instrument and findings from pilot projects on InformeDesign, (www.informedesign.umn.edu), a Web site that houses a database of research that has been transformed into evidence-based design criteria.
Impacts
The results of the data analysis have provided feedback to building owners to improve occupants'/employees' satisfaction with the interior environment. Issues such as thermal comfort, lighting conditions, and acoustic conditions that were found to be unsatisfactory can be addressed by the building manager/owner to improve the physical environment for employees. The follow-up questionnaire, which will be conducted in 2013, will analyze any changes made to the physical environment with the intention of improving the environment for occupants. The second result that contributed to outcomes is the level to which the results provided feedback to the CSBR and development of the next version of the B3-MSBG. The new version is being implemented in 2013 and the Scan Level of the SPOES will be required and provided free of charge. The Core and Advanced Levels are available to building managers, owners, and designers at a small fee and can provided in-depth analysis of occupant satisfaction, performance and health. The questionnaires have been evaluated via several user types, design firms, and researchers. Results of findings from their use were evaluated via reviewers of manuscripts submitted to refereed journals. Successful completion of this project could not have been achieved without resources and activities supported by this grant. Research assistants were instrumental in the literature review and analysis of several other POE instruments. Statistical assistance was provided by Dr. Kim and research assistants to analyze the data that resulted in revision of the instruments so they are valid and reliable. Cooperation of the CSBR was instrumental in developing an instrument and process that could be integrated with the B3-MSBG process, which now makes POEs required. As all state-funded building projects in Minnesota are required to use the B3-MSBG, they also now are required to use SPOES.
Publications
- Guerin, D., Kulman Brigham, J., Kim, H-Y., Choi, S., & Scott, A. (2012). Post-occupancy evaluation of employees work performance and satisfaction as related to sustainable design criteria and workstation type. Journal of Green Building,7(4).
- Guerin, D., Kim, H-Y., Kulman Brigham, J., Choi, S., & Scott, A. (2011). Thermal comfort, indoor air quality and acoustics: A conceptual framework for predicting occupant satisfaction in sustainable office buildings, International Journal of Sustainable Design,1(4),348-360.
- Guerin, D., Kim, H-Y., Kulman Brigham, J., Choi, S., & Scott, A. (2011). Development of a post-occupancy evaluation tool for designers to measure occupant satisfaction, performance, and well-being in sustainable buildings. Design at the Edge. Taipei, Taiwan: International Design Alliance, 252-256.
- Guerin, D., Kim, H-Y., Kulman Brigham, J., Choi, S., & Scott, A. (2012). Enhancing student learning: The role of sustainable classroom design. Proceedings of the Interior Design Educators Council Annual Conference, Baltimore, MD.
- Guerin, D., Kulman Brigham, J., Kim, H-Y., Choi, S., & Scott, A. (2012). Aesthetics, furnishings, and technology in the college classroom: Do they affect student learning and well-being Proceedings of EDRA43, Seattle, WA.
- Guerin, D., Kulman Brigham, J., Kim, H-Y., Choi, S., & Scott, A. (In review, October 2012). Indoor environmental quality criteria affecting employees' satisfaction: Results of conceptual framework application. Submitted to International Journal of Sustainable Design
- Choi, S., Kim, H-Y., Kulman Brigham, J., Guerin, D., & Bauer, T. (In review, May 2012). Indoor environmental quality of classrooms and student outcomes: A path analysis approach. Submitted to Journal of Learning Spaces.
|
Progress 01/01/11 to 12/31/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: POEs have been completed in six buildings to date using the instrument we developed and tested. Additional revision and refinement occurred at the end of each administration of the instrument. We have now developed three levels of the POE instrument and are undergoing further validity testing. A Scan version of the instrument (questionnaire)is limited to category level questions and overall facility questions. It takes about 7 minutes for the respondent to complete and provides minimal feedback. The Core version includes all Scan items and further investigates attribute level items for each category as related to occupant satisfaction; it takes about 15 minutes to complete. The Advanced version includes all Core items and all attribute items related to perceived performance; it takes about 30 minutes. This gives the most complete feedback to the researchers, designers, and business owners. The development and findings from several of the buildings tested have been disseminated to design researchers, design educators, and design and architecture firms. Firms are beginning to consider using one of the questionnaire levels to inform their design team and the business owner of the influence sustainable interior environments, i.e., the indoor environmental quality, has on their employees or other building occupants. PARTICIPANTS: Individuals: Jonee Kulman Brigham, Research Associate, Center for Sustainable Building Research; John Carmody, Director, Center for Sustainable Building Research; Caren Martin, Associate Professor, Interior Design; Hye Young Kim, Assistant Professor, Retail Merchandising; SeonMi Choi, Research Assistant, Interior Design; Angelita Scott, Research Assistant, Interior Design Partner Organization: Center for Sustainable Building Research TARGET AUDIENCES: TARGET AUDIENCES: Target audiences are interior designers, architects, building managers, facility managers, engineers, and occupants of sustainable buildings. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
The extensive dissemination and publication that have been outcomes of this project are making a change in the way sustainable design is acknowledged as an influence on occupant satisfaction and performance. In the past, business owners were concerned that there would be little to no return on their investment in sustainable building design. In Minnesota, in particular, our POE instrument, which reflects the B3 sustainable guidelines, offers proof that indoor environmental quality, e.g., thermal conditions, lighting conditions, acoustic conditions, furnishings, aesthetics, control, etc., does positively impact employees who work in sustainable buildings. Further, employees' sustainable ethic is being evaluated to determine if it is affected by employees' work in a sustainable building or vice versa.
Publications
- Guerin, D., Kulman Brigham, J., Kim, H-Y., Choi, S., & Scott, A. (2011). POE results: Occupants satisfaction with acoustics and privacy conditions and the effect on work performance by current and prior workstation type. Presentation at EDRA42, Chicago, IL.
- Guerin, D., Kulman Brigham, J., Kim, H-Y., Choi, S., & Scott, A. (2011). The effect of acoustics, privacy, and workstation type on employee satisfaction and work performance in a sustainable building. Presentation at the Interior Design Educators Council International Conference, Denver, CO.
- Guerin, D., Kim, H-Y., Kulman Brigham, J., Choi, S., & Scott, A. (2011). Thermal comfort, indoor air quality and acoustics: A conceptual framework for predicting occupant satisfaction in sustainable office buildings. International Journal of Sustainable Design,1(4), 348-360.
- Guerin, D., Kim, H-Y., Kulman Brigham, J., Choi, S., & Scott, A. (2011). Development of a post-occupancy evaluation tool for designers to measure occupant satisfaction, performance, and well-being in sustainable buildings. Design at the Edge. Taipei, Taiwan: International Design Alliance.
|
Progress 01/01/10 to 12/31/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The output for this project is a user-friendly, on-line, post-occupancy evaluation (POE) instrument (questionnaire) that has been developed for and tested on occupants of sustainably designed office buildings. The POE instrument reflects the design criteria for the B-3 (Buildings, Benchmarks, and Beyond) Sustainable Buildings Guidelines created by the Center for Sustainable Building Research at the University of Minnesota. It also reflects the design credits stipulated in the LEED sustainable design guidelines. The questionnaire was developed so that designers who use sustainable design guidelines can evaluate the effectiveness of design criteria such as lighting conditions, thermal conditions, acoustic conditions, and furnishings on occupant performance, satisfaction, and well-being. The questionnaire has several levels of questions including core, basic, or custom questions so that it can be used by designers to elicit occupant responses to questions that reflect sustainability (core and basic) as well as their design goals (custom). The questionnaire has been piloted, pre-tested, and used in three buildings. Each use allows the researchers to revise the questionnaire to be certain the questions are valid and reliable. Scales are being statistically developed to assure validity and reliability of each part of the questionnaire. The development of the questionnaire and preliminary results have been disseminated at three international conferences, to three architecture/design firms who have used the B3 guidelines, and to Minnesota designers who are required to use the B3 guidelines for any state-funded building. (The B-3 Guidelines require a POE.) Upon completion of validity testing, this instrument will be made available to the entire global design community for use in evaluating their design solutions' effect on building occupants. The next testing of this instrument is in January 2011. PARTICIPANTS: Jonee Kulman Brigham, Research Associate, Center for Sustainable Building Research; John Carmody, Director, Center for Sustainable Building Research; Caren Martin, Associate Professor, Interior Design; Hye Young Kim, Assistant Professor, Retail Merchandising; SeonMi Choi, Research Assistant, Interior Design; Angelita Scott, Research Assistant, Interior Design TARGET AUDIENCES: Target audiences are interior designers, architects, building managers, facility managers, engineers, and occupants of sustainable buildings. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
One of the private design firm clients who used this instrument has been able to compare pre-design occupant pre-occupancy results with post-occupancy results. The findings have confirmed the positive influence of sustainable design criteria on occupant satisfaction and their perception of their work performance. A research grant has been applied for based on the development of this instrument and the preliminary results that will help us develop a human comfort scale. This is an important contribution because comfort is related to employees' retention. The longer a company retains successful employees, the lower their training costs. The overall affect of comfort on satisfaction and satisfaction on performance will be tested in a graduate student dissertation using this instrument. Another grant received is Kulman Brigham, J., Guerin, D., & Kim, H-Y. (2010-2011). Occupants' satisfaction with sustainable university classrooms. University of Minnesota, $12,500.
Publications
- Guerin, D., Kim, H-Y., Kulman Brighman, J. (2010). The relationship between occupants' satisfaction and performance and sustainable design criteria: POE results. Presentations at the Environmental Design Research Association Annual Conference, Washington DC and the Interior Design Educators Council International Conference, Atlanta, GA.
- Guerin, D., Kulman Brigham, J., Kim, HY, Choi, S., & Scott, A. (2010). Post-occupancy evaluation of sustainable buildings as related to occupant satisfaction. Poster presented at the Korean International Interior Design Conference. Seoul, Korea.
|
Progress 01/01/09 to 12/31/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The purpose of this project was to develop and test an online questionnaire to determine occupant satisfaction and perforamnce in sustainable buildings that were designed by the B3 or LEED sustainable design criteria. We have developed this post-occupancey evaluation (POE)instrument, pre-tested it, and piloted it. We have used it on two groups: Washington County Service Centers and a client for Perkins + Will, an architecture and design firm. It has been found to be reliable and valid. We are continuing its use and development in other buildings for other clients who contract with us to perform POEs. A database of sustainable design criteria that predict occupant satisfaction and performance is being developed. The process for development of this instrument was disseminated in a refereed presentation: Guerin, D., Carmody, J., & Kulman Brigham, J. (2009). POE instrument development to determine the relationship of occupants' satisfaction, performance, sustainability ethic, and behavior change in sustainable buildings. Paper presented at the Interior Design Educators Council International Conference, St. Louis, MO. We will share this instrument with the global sustainable design community as an online instrument once it has been fully tested and the database of findings has proven reliable. The results of the Washington County Service Centers were shared with the building owners, architects, interior designers, occupants, and organization management. PARTICIPANTS: Individuals who worked on this project with Denise Guerin are Jonee Kulman Brigham, Hye-Young Kim, SeonMi Choi, and Angelita Scott. Collaborative organizations are the Center for Sustainable Design Research and InformeDesign. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
The results of the Washington County Service Centers provided county management with knowlege to make the physical environment more thermally comfortable for the employees. Other new knowledge shared with managment and occupants can be used to improve lighting, acoustics, and privacy, which contribute to occupant satisfaction with their workplace and their perceived work performance. These findings support the use of sustainable design criteria and show a positive relationship to occupant satisfaction and performance. One grant and three contracts have been funded from this initial project, which have also contributed to the research findings identified above. Grants received based on AES seed funding: Guerin, D., (2009-2011). Post-occupancy evaluation of occupants in sustainable buildings. College of Human Ecology Research Funds. $91,500. Contracts received based on instrument development: Kulman Brigham, J., Guerin, D., & Kim, Hye-Young. (2009). Office building occupant survey for Perkins + Will. With the Center for Sustainable Building Research, University of Minnesota. $12,500. Kulman Brigham, J., Guerin, D., & Kim, Hye-Young. (2008-2009). Sustainable post-occupancy evaluation at two Washington County Service Centers. With the Center for Sustainable Building Research, University of Minnesota. $30,000. Guerin, D. (2008-2009). Development and assessment of post-occupancy evaluation for B-3. Center for Sustainable Building Research, University of Minnesota. $15,000.
Publications
- Lee, Y., & Guerin, D. (2009). Indoor environmental quality differences between office types in LEED-certified buildings in the US. Building and Environment.
- Lee, Y., & Guerin, D. (2009). Indoor environmental quality related to occupant satisfaction and performance in LEED-certified buildings. Journal of Indoor and Built Environment, 18(4), 293-300.
- Kang, M. & Guerin, D. (2009). The characteristics of interior designers who practice environmentally sustainable interior design. Environment and Behavior, 4(2), 170-184.
- Kang, M., & Guerin, D. (2009). The state of environmentally sustainable interior design practice. American Journal of Environmental Sciences, 5(2), 161-168.
|
Progress 01/01/08 to 12/31/08
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The first objective is underway. It is to develop a self-administered, Internet-based, post-occupancy evaluation (POE) instrument that measures human satisfaction and performance in rural and urban Minnesota buildings that meet sustainable interior environment and human behavior design criteria. This instrument must reflect the cultural and language needs of the increasing immigrant, rural, and culturally diverse populations employed by Minnesota businesses and industries, which reflects national employee trends. The draft of this POE is completed and the IRB exemption is being applied for. Work with Jonee Brigam and John Carmody of the Center for Sustainable Building Research has provided Washington County buildings as user groups to pilot and test the POE instrument. PARTICIPANTS: The following individuals worked on this project: Jonee Brigham, Research Associate, Center for Sustainable Building Research JOhn Carmody, Director, Center for Sustainabble Building Research Caren Martin, Director, InformeDesign The following organization serves as the client for the post-occupancy evaluation: Washington County Service Offices TARGET AUDIENCES: Target audiences for the findings from this study are architects, interior designers, engineers, human factor specialists, landscape architects, facility managers, owners, and managers of sustainably designed buildings. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
The POE instrument is under development and will be piloted in January 2009.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
|
|