Examining the perception of tenants in sustainable office buildings
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to address two major challenges faced by sustainable building owners: first, address the gap between an occupant’s expectations of sustainable building outcomes and what the building actually provides and second, overcome the lack of user knowledge about sustainability design and operation for a particular with regards to performance.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a focus group approach to investigate the gap between: user expectations and sustainable building performance. The study surveyed occupants of sustainable office buildings in Melbourne, Australia.
Findings
There is no significant relationship between users’ expectations and users’ experience of sustainable building performance and users’ knowledge about sustainability and the building they were worked in.
Research limitations/implications
The research was limited to sustainable office buildings. New office buildings seeking to incorporate sustainability which need to focus on the needs of tenants in order to maximise value.
Practical implications
There is an urgent need to ensure sustainable office buildings meet the needs of present and future occupiers without compromising short and long-term occupier satisfaction levels with regards to sustainability and operation of the building.
Social implications
Increasing the level of sustainability in office buildings has been a major trend over the past decade however the tenants need to be consulted in the post-occupancy phase.
Originality/value
Little attention has been given in the property management literature to sustainable office buildings and value drivers. This is an original and innovative study, partly due to the recent developments in sustainable buildings.
Keywords
Citation
Jailani, J., Reed, R. and James, K. (2015), "Examining the perception of tenants in sustainable office buildings", Property Management, Vol. 33 No. 4, pp. 386-404. https://doi.org/10.1108/PM-05-2014-0022
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited