Post-Occupancy
Building occupants and operators play a key role in determining whether or not a building is sustainable. Their day-to-day choices significantly impact energy use, water use, purchasing, and waste management practices.
But you don’t have to wait until the building is occupied to influence occupants. Forward-thinking design is at the heart of effective occupant engagement. Here we look at social science research as well as more anecdotal case studies, and we share what actually works and why.
Post-Occupancy
Deep Dives
Get up to speed on complex topics. You can also earn CEUs and download PDF Spotlight Reports.
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Verifying Project Outcomes: Which Metrics Work?
Feature Short
Project success is increasingly tied to performance metrics, especially EUI. But that doesn’t always capture what owners are really looking for.
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Measurement and Verification: Monitoring Building Systems for Optimal Performance
Feature Article
Tracking the performance of a building's mechanical and electrical systems is essential for energy savings that persist over time. In this article, EBN explores measurement and verification and explains why demand for these systems is growing. We also explain the LEED® Rating System's evolving treatment of M&V.
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Occupant Engagement: Where Design Meets Performance
Feature Article
No matter how carefully you plan a retrofit or design a building, the occupants hold the keys to environmental performance. But design teams can help them unlock any building's potential.
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Natural Ventilation: The Nine Biggest Obstacles and How Project Teams Are Beating Them
Feature Article
Designers are reinventing the art and science of passive comfort control even where climate and culture favor mechanical systems.
Quick Takes
Jump straight to the essentials with these short explanations of green building concepts.
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Checklist for Implementing an Occupant Engagement Campaign
Infographic
Use this checklist as a guide to implementing an occupant engagement campaign.
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Putting the “Pre” in Post-Occupancy Evaluations
Infographic
Don’t just take a survey and walk away. There’s a better way to do POEs that can dovetail with the integrative process, improve project outcomes, and save clients money.
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Post-Occupancy Evaluations: Ignorance Isn't Bliss
Explainer
POEs tell you everything you ever wanted to know about your buildings. Don't be afraid to ask.
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Sitting Is the New Smoking: Fad or Fact?
Explainer
Active design is looking less like a luxury and more like a public health imperative.
Product Guidance
Unbiased information from our product experts helps you separate green from greenwash.
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Demountable Walls: Here to Redeem the Open Office
Product Review
These movable partitions preserve the flexibility of an open office and provide the acoustical privacy office workers say they want.
In The News
We break news down to the essentials and provide expert analysis.
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Two Studies Analyze Green Building Performance
News Analysis
Two post-occupancy studies of certified green buildings found that prioritizing energy efficiency in design leads to better performance, highlights inaccuracy of energy modeling.
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Preliminary Study Supports LEED Productivity Benefits
News Analysis
Workers moving from existing buildings to new LEED-certified buildings were surveyed for before-and-after health and productivity changes.
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LEED Buildings Still Average in Occupant Satisfaction
News Analysis
Early versions of LEED pull ahead in air quality but lose ground with inadequate lighting, resulting in a tie with non-LEED buildings for overall workplace happiness.
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What’s the Secret to High Performance?
News Analysis
A new report identifies common habits of the firms that produce the best-designed and most sustainable projects.
Perspective
Thought-provoking opinions from the most trusted minds in sustainability.
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The Energy Conservatory’s New Blower Door Kit
Blog Post
TEC did its homework: its new blower door package is a well-engineered and integrated equipment system
Just For Fun
Something weird happens every April at BuildingGreen...
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USGBC Embraces Legal Marijuana
April Fools
LEED v4.20 introduces a wide range of cannabis-oriented prerequisites.
