April 7, 2006—A new post-occupancy evaluation (POE) from the Cascadia Region Green Building Council (CGBC) shows generally positive energy performance and user satisfaction with the regions LEED certified buildings.
The January 2006 report, “LEED Building Performance in the Cascadia Region: A Post-Occupancy Evaluation Report,” examined 11 of the region’s 31 LEED certified buildings that had been occupied for at least one year as of September 2005. The group includes five offices, two libraries, and four multifamily residential buildings.
Much of the POE focused on the buildings’ energy performance. Analyzing information obtained from building owners, CGBC found that six of the ten buildings with design-phase energy modeling used less energy than those models predicted, by an average of 30%. One outlier, the studys only anonymous building, used three times more energy than it was projected to use, and the remaining three used an average of 27% more energy than their projections.
The study also included a survey to determine occupant satisfaction with a range of building qualities. Users reported being somewhat dissatisfied with acoustics but satisfied or very satisfied with all other indicators. The results show that occupants are very satisfied with the buildings overall but slightly less satisfied with their personal workspaces.
The Cascadia Region Green Building Council promotes the design, construction and operation of buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy places to live and work in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. For more information, visit the Web site.
