%0 Conference Paper %B 8th European Real Estate Society Conference %D 2001 %T Evaluating Building Environments a Phenomenological Approach %A Fleming, David %A Storr, John %X "In an earlier paper Fleming and Storr (1999) outlined the development of research into office building environments using a phenomenological approach. The need for a paradigm shift was argued to be caused by shorcomings found in existing work. Literature in the facilities and property management disciplines focusses on two related areas: space management and design (e.g. Duffy F.1999). and questions of human productivity in the workplace (e.g. Leaman & Bordass, 1997). Methodologically, these approaches evaluate the significance of design and management strategies by post-occupancy or diagnostic studies based on a series of defined technical criteria. By example, Leifer's (1999) evaluation of four Auckland office buildings uses 24 variables including temperature, air quality, lighting etc. Only two of the variables, ""overall satisfaction"" and ""ability to do work"" allow respondents to express opinion on more subjectively derived issues. Hinks & McNay (1999) rank 23 Key performance indicators defined by expert panels including members of premises departments. Current work is, therefore, inherently positivist in nature focussing on technically derived issues. Matters of occupier perception are almost entirely ignored. Fleming and Storr's phenomenological approach for the first time identifies variables defined only upon occupiers' perceptions. The analysis demonstrates that the technical issues used in other studies miss indicators significant to building occupiers." %B 8th European Real Estate Society Conference %S ERES: Conference %C Alicante, Spain %8 06/2001 %G eng %3 RePEc:arz:wpaper:eres2001_163 %! Conference 2001 %& Property Management %R 10.15396/eres2001_163