Traditionally Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) is conducted against the prescribed performance specification and it mainly relies on two activities; i) The effective collection of real world data and information and ii) the formulation of this data / information into models that allow trends and deviations to be observed. However, it is required to gain efficiencies by identifying potentially easier and more economical methods and tools for the collection of data such as wireless sensors. Furthermore, with the advent of cloud computing, data storage and processing can also become easier and more economical too. Subsequently, it can be possible not only to compare a building performance against its initial performance specification but also benchmark a building against similar properties.

Thus, the paper sets out a new vision of how future post occupancy evaluation can be conducted. It explores the use BIM (Building Information Modelling) that is progressively becoming more popular for developing building information throughout the building lifecycle through a comparative study in order to build up greater understanding of the relationship between the fabric and the building use.

This paper is grounded in UK experience, but the international relevance of the issues is also explored.