ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a critical cost analysis of some different housing building performance evaluation/post-occupancy evaluation projects to help identify best value at different scales. It looks at the wider, less tangible value of BPE. National government, agencies and local authorities pay for BPE studies via various national funding programmes and local grants. Inhabitants rarely pay for BPE directly, unless they are very intrepid homeowners. Rigorous BPE as a routine activity requires practices either to absorb the cost within their continuing professional development budget, or build it into the costs they pass on to their client. Practices also need to invest in BPE training and embedded organisational learning to make BPE part of a virtuous circle of design improvement. A typical route for a practice or housing developer to engage with BPE is via an academic partnership. Cost savings on equipment occur with BPE across a number of homes rather than a single home.
