Post-occupancy evaluation and human-centered indoor environmental quality in higher-education buildings: a structured review

The ongoing discrepancy between predicted and actual building performance has reinforced the need for post-occupancy evaluation (POE) to ensure that higher education facilities meet the demand for stable indoor conditions to support learning, teaching, and administrative activities. This literature review synthesized findings from the existing literature on a human-centered approach to indoor environmental quality (IEQ) that combines objective measurements with occupants’ perception of comfort, satisfaction, symptoms, and perceived control. A structured literature search was conducted using Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar to synthesize 43 review articles and empirical studies on the relationship among four major IEQ factors. The findings revealed that all IEQ factors can affect occupants’ fatigue, concentration, decision-making, stress, and satisfaction, with perceived control and adaptation playing a moderate role in most cases. It also revealed that adherence to technical standards and rating systems (ASHRAE, LEED, and WELL) does not guarantee satisfaction with IEQ. This paper concludes that the proposed mixed-methodology for POE has the potential to support continuous facility operations, resolve conflicts between energy efficiency and user satisfaction, and inform the design and management of healthy and high-performing university facilities. In this study, a human-centered Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) framework that incorporates objective indoor environmental quality metrics and perceptions with decision-making processes in higher education facilities.