for that are unclear and often differ from case to case. Possible reasons include unrealistic assumptions of user behaviour, inadequate building performance, or simply users lacking an incentive to conform to the design assumptions( Santos Silva and Ghisi, 2014; Bourgeois et al, 2006; de Wilde and Tian, 2009; Gill et al, 2010).
A secondary reason is the relative lack of validation of the predicted design performance. While most buildings today incorporate at least some degree of pro-sustainability technologies, this is typically done on the design stage via meeting specific requirements set out in the local building regulations. Only a small percentage of completed buildings is monitored for environmental performance once it’ s been put in use, usually when there is specific research interest. Even then, the monitoring only happens for small periods of time which might not be representative, or might be subject to a range of technical problems( Swan et al, 2015).
As such, the importance of Post-Occupancy Evaluation( POE) surveys cannot be understated. They are fundamental in closing the aforementioned loop. Menezes et al have shown how they can be used to address the performance gap( 2012), while Bordass and Leaman( 2005) called for POEs to become a routine part of project delivery over a decade ago. While the benefits are obvious, a key barrier was identified early in environmental design research: most clients do not see a direct benefit from a POE thus creating fragmented incentives( Zimmerman and Martin, 2001). It is not difficult to appreciate why this appears so from a client’ s perspective: from a strictly business perspective there is no legal requirement to conduct one and the results might show design flaws that a developer might prefer hidden.
This, however, does not justify why there is relatively limited take-up amongst architects as well as big institutional clients who commission and manage buildings for their own use. A possible factor is the relative disconnect between the presentation tools architects use and the format of data gathered by data loggers, the devices that measure, record, and store parameters related to the environment for further analysis by environmental specialists. Designers work with highly visual tools( these days almost exclusively in 3D) while the output of data collected by loggers is typically in a Comma Separated Values(. csv) or variations of this. Similarly, the significant amounts of data collected by loggers are not always easy to communicate to senior managers, building users, or other decision makers and stakeholders without built environment expertise.
The EnViz software application
In order to address some of these issues, a prototype software application was developed as part of a research project. The application is called EnViz( for“ Environmental Visualisation” app)- visualises temperature and relative humidity data in a 4D context of volumetric 3D models over time( Figure 1). The standard usability process consists of: input of a building model; input of data logger output; selection of timescale and time ratio;( optionally) selection of desired thermal comfort criteria. The user can then see static( 3D) and dynamic( 4D) visualisations of the respective data( Figure 2) based on predefined colour maps.
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