A building opens. People move in. Six months later, does it actually work? Post-Occupancy Evaluation, or POE, answers that question. It is a systematic assessment of how a completed building performs for its users, covering comfort, energy use, indoor air quality, acoustics, and functionality.

POE uses different methods. Surveys ask occupants how satisfied they are with temperature, lighting, noise, and layout. Measurements track energy consumption, indoor air quality, and thermal conditions. Interviews and walkthroughs reveal problems that numbers miss. The best studies combine all three.

The findings are often humbling. A building designed for natural ventilation may be too noisy to open windows. A carefully planned open office may be too distracting for focused work. A high-performance facade may create glare that blinds occupants every afternoon. These are not failures of engineering. They are failures of assumption.

POE is not standard practice on most projects. It adds cost and time, and it can be uncomfortable for designers. But it is the only way to learn whether a building works in the real world, and to do better next time.