TY - JOUR
T1 - Green occupants for green buildings
T2 - the missing link?
AU - Deuble, Max Paul
AU - de Dear, Richard John
PY - 2012/10
Y1 - 2012/10
N2 - Green buildings, often defined as those featuring natural ventilation capabilities, i.e. low-energy or free-running buildings, are now at the forefront of building research and climate change mitigation scenarios. This paper follows the results of recent post-occupancy evaluation (POE) surveys within two academic office buildings located in sub-tropical Sydney, Australia. Supplemented with an environmental attitudes questionnaire, based upon the New Ecological Paradigm [1]), it was found that occupant satisfaction levels on the POE were positively associated with environmental beliefs. Occupants with higher levels of environmental concern were more forgiving of their building, particularly those featuring aspects of green design, such as natural ventilation through operable windows. Despite their criticisms of the building's indoor environmental quality, the 'green' occupants were prepared to overlook and forgive less-than-ideal conditions more so than their 'brown' (non-green) counterparts. These results support the hypothesis that pro-environmental attitudes are closely associated with the stronger 'forgiveness factor' often observed in green buildings, but the question of causality remains moot.
AB - Green buildings, often defined as those featuring natural ventilation capabilities, i.e. low-energy or free-running buildings, are now at the forefront of building research and climate change mitigation scenarios. This paper follows the results of recent post-occupancy evaluation (POE) surveys within two academic office buildings located in sub-tropical Sydney, Australia. Supplemented with an environmental attitudes questionnaire, based upon the New Ecological Paradigm [1]), it was found that occupant satisfaction levels on the POE were positively associated with environmental beliefs. Occupants with higher levels of environmental concern were more forgiving of their building, particularly those featuring aspects of green design, such as natural ventilation through operable windows. Despite their criticisms of the building's indoor environmental quality, the 'green' occupants were prepared to overlook and forgive less-than-ideal conditions more so than their 'brown' (non-green) counterparts. These results support the hypothesis that pro-environmental attitudes are closely associated with the stronger 'forgiveness factor' often observed in green buildings, but the question of causality remains moot.
KW - forgiveness factor
KW - green buildings
KW - New Ecological Paradigm (NEP)
KW - post-occupancy evaluation (POE)
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84858722674&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.buildenv.2012.02.029
DO - 10.1016/j.buildenv.2012.02.029
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84858722674
VL - 56
SP - 21
EP - 27
JO - Building and Environment
JF - Building and Environment
SN - 0360-1323
ER -