Designing Buildings for People

With a trend towards greater building automation, occupant needs and preferences during the design process are often forgotten. Meanwhile, occupants are often distrusted because of their seemingly irrational behaviours, whereas they merely want to restore comfort. Based on findings of post-occupancy evaluations from several hundred offices and apartments, this talk is focused on designing and operating buildings to optimize occupant comfort, building usability, and energy performance. Focus will be on the interaction between occupants and building envelopes. The talk will provide humourous anecdotes, strange findings, and some general lessons learned and future recommendations.

SPEAKER: Liam O’Brien, Ph.D., P.Eng. is an Associate Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Carleton University. He is the principal investigator of the Human Building Interaction Lab, which consists of a team of 15 researchers with diverse backgrounds in engineering, architecture, and psychology. His team is developing occupant-centric design processes, building code, and controls for high-performance buildings. He has authored over 150 publications and two books on this topic. He is the Operating Agent of IEA EBC Annex 79: Occupant-Centric Building Design and Operation and the past president of the Canadian chapter of the International Building Performance Simulation Association.

Email librado@goldenplanners.ca to register for this event

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