Measuring-up Healthy Buildings: Modes, Methods, and Meaning for Discovery and Practice

Presented By Greenbuild Credits: 1 HSW, 1 LU, 1 CE

This is the video recording of a course presented at Greenbuild 2018. Sustainable buildings have typically been measured in two ways: by their reduction in resource consumption and their achievement of green building certifications. However, neither of these criteria measure the most important aspect of the building – its impact on occupants’ comfort, health, well-being, and productivity. In order to accurately record and generalize this information, longitudinal, pre-and post-occupancy evaluation studies are crucial. This session will explore the methodology behind the 36-month occupant’s multi-comfort study conducted at the Saint-Gobain & CertainTeed North American Headquarters in Malvern, Pa., in partnership with the University of Oregon’s High Performance Environments Lab (HiPE). The presentation will delve into the methods and protocols that guided this research study as well as the findings related to thermal, visual, acoustical comfort, and indoor air quality as well as occupant productivity, satisfaction, health and well-being. It will also explore how Saint-Gobain was able to utilize the headquarters as a living laboratory to measure the impact of its sustainable building materials and systems on occupant’s satisfaction.