A method for evaluating the performance of green buildings with a focus on user experience

Since the early 1990s, various green building rating systems have been proposed and continuously elaborated through exhaustive studies. Most efforts in this area can be divided into two main parts; (i) development of green building rating systems through identifying relevant rating criteria; (ii) assessment of building rating systems for validity. Studies on the rating criteria for green buildings have mainly focused on the development of the items for evaluating buildings' energy performance. Studies on the assessment of building rating systems have emphasized the effectiveness of such systems. The existing studies in this area adopt mostly quantitative methods, so there is a lack of qualitative evaluation regarding users' interaction with green buildings. Our research aims to develop a method for evaluating green building performance, which includes user experience. In order to assess the proposed method, we conducted a case study, in which we used Korea's Green Building Certification Criteria (KGBCC) to evaluate the performance of a KGBC-certified green apartment. We have used a customized method, with a focus on user-oriented factors, to present the results. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.