Understanding the drivers and barriers to effective Post Occupancy Evaluation through system thinking.

Monday, July 20, 2026, 11:00 AM

Session: SOC Poster Session (In-person)

THIS IS FOR A POSTER: Improving operational building performance is essential for meeting the ambitious UK Net Zero targets in the context of the climate emergency. A holistic understanding of the drivers and barriers to evaluating the performance of operational buildings is therefore required to understand the causes of the performance gap and foster a culture of continuous improvement in the built environment. Post-occupancy evaluation (POE) remains an underutilised tool for closing this gap. Although existing research has identified a range of drivers and barriers affecting POE adoption, there remains a lack of systems-level analysis examining the interactions between these factors and their underlying causal relationships. Consequently, leverage points that could encourage the adoption of POE across the built environment supply change remain insufficiently understood. Within this context, a systems think approach is proposed to capture and analyse the complexity of the factors influencing POE adoption focused on non- domestic buildings. The goal of this study is to map the current interactions of drivers and barriers to POE from multiple perspectives in the building supply chain to provide a holistic understanding of the complex dynamics and interdependencies of this system and identify leverage points capable of increasing the uptake and effectiveness of POE.