Assessment of Building Performance and Occupant Satisfaction in Student Housing: A Post-Occupancy Evaluation Study at KFUPM

Abstract

Research on post-occupancy evaluation on student housing has been quite intensive in the past 

decade. However, some countries give little or no concern to the practice of improving design outcomes 

and building performance using post-occupancy evaluations. This study focuses on the use of postoccupancy evaluation (POE) of the design and the building performance of existing students` housing

at the campus of King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia. The evaluation 

methods used include on-site walkthroughs, questionnaire surveys and students' meetings. A 

comprehensive overview of the building performance provided, along with an evaluation of the 

satisfaction of the students. This study provides areas for improvement and provides guidelines and 

recommendations to serve as feedback and feed forward to university's Projects/Maintenance 

Department, to improve the design and maintenance in the design stage of future student housing 

buildings. Thus, the study has practical findings that contribute to enhancing future building design, 

utilization, and optimizing the designe process for similar projects, and improving the overall 

satisfaction of occupants of student housing facilities.