A New Post Occupancy Evaluation Tool for Assessing the Indoor Environment Quality of Learning Environments
It is suitable for the multidisciplinary groups involved in commissioning, designing, constructing, operating, maintaining and occupying school facilities. IEQ is an environmental issue concerned with the levels of lighting, thermal comfort, air quality a
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14. A NEW POST OCCUPANCY EVALUATION TOOL FOR ASSESSING THE INDOOR ENVIRONMENT QUALITY OF LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS
INTRODUCTION
The EduTool:IEQ is an evaluation tool that provides succinct and targeted information about the indoor environment quality (IEQ) of learning environments. It is suitable for the multidisciplinary groups involved in commissioning, designing, constructing, operating, maintaining and occupying school facilities. IEQ is an environmental issue concerned with the levels of lighting, thermal comfort, air quality and acoustics inside a space. In a school context, IEQ performance is important, as poor IEQ can trigger health and learning difficulties for students and adversely impact on the wellbeing of educators and their students. The EduTool:IEQ assesses and quantifies the performance of 16 IEQ components identified in the literature as having the greatest potential to impact on effective teaching and learning. The assessment involves collecting objective data about each, using environmental monitoring equipment. The findings of the evaluation are communicated using the EduTool:IEQ info-graphic, which is a data visualisation method. The EduTool:IEQ info-graphic is unique because it enables its users to immediately identify how the 16 IEQ components perform relative to recommended levels of industry practice. Giving stakeholder groups access to this type of information can enable targeted and cost-effective remedial works that benefit students and educators to be identified and undertaken inside the learning environments. The findings also provide a valuable source of feedback loops for built environment professionals seeking information about opportunities to improve their future practice. CONTEXT – THE IMPACT OF IEQ ON STUDENT WELLBEING
This chapter outlines the development of a new post occupancy evaluation (POE) tool used to assess the indoor environment quality (IEQ) inside learning environments. POE “is the process of evaluating buildings in a systematic and rigorous manner after they have been built and occupied for some time” (Preiser, 2001, p. 9). POE tools are used by evaluators to control and document the inputs and parameters that are assessed as part of the evaluation process (Baker, 2011).
W. Imms et al. (Eds.), Evaluating Learning Environments, 195–210. © 2016 Sense Publishers. All rights reserved.
P. Soccio
Learning environments are complex learning spaces overlaid with environmental, pedagogical, socio-cultural, curricular, motivational, and socio-economic issues (Figure 1) (Higgins, Hall, Wall, Woolner & McCaughey, 2005). IEQ is an environmental issue concerned with the levels of lighting, thermal comfort, air quality and acoustics inside a space. Poor IEQ performance inside a learning environment can trigger health and learning difficulties for students (Daisy, Angell & Apte, 2003; Earthman, 2004; Coalition for Healthier Schools, 2013). Young students attending primary and middle schools are particularly vulnerable because of the dynamic state of growth their bodies and minds
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