title: An ethnographic investigation into how social practices inform sustainable building design in Oman
Creators: name: Al Jahdhami, Majid
Publisher: name: University of Reading
Year: 2024

description: This study addressed a recognized problem whereby design intention is often 
wrongly assumed to be an accurate prediction of a future user action, resulting in 
lower-than-expected building performance when measured quantitatively through 
Post Occupancy Evaluation surveys. The issue with the current approaches for 
promoting sustainability in building design is that they have paid more attention to 
the environment and less to the social dimension of sustainability, despite the 
widely accepted definition of sustainability having an explicit anthropocentric focus 
emphasizing human needs. Hence, this research illustrates the constitution of users' 
daily life, revealing that the influences of cultural and contextual factors extend 
beyond the intentions of design for sustainability.
Contemporary discussions surrounding the evaluation of building performance 
frequently underscore the existence of a 'performance gap' between the operational 
reality of buildings and the envisioned performance delineated during the design 
phase. Although these discussions predominantly revolve around energy-related 
considerations, there is a growing emphasis on attending to the subjective 
experiences of building occupants, particularly with regard to thermal comfort and 
overall well-being. While the heightened focus on these aspects is undoubtedly 
commendable, it is notable that prevailing conceptualizations of buildings persist 
in treating them as static physical constructs rather than dynamic entities that 
manifest in practical utilization. Seeking to challenge prevalent assumptions, the 
concept of building appraisal diverges from established paradigms of building 
performance evaluation by departing from the notion of the building as an 
ostensibly immutable entity. Instead, it centers on the inherent fluidity of the 
occupying organization and its spatial aspirations as the foundational framework 
for assessment.
Empirical data was obtained from an ethnographic case study of an office building 
in Oman, involving observations, shadowing, interviews, and documentary 
analysis. Notably, this method included users often excluded from knowledge 
generation processes, such as cleaners, and those typically considered authoritative, 
such as architects, operation and maintenance, and facilities managers. As a result, 
numerous unexpected instances of individual actions were observed, contradicting
prevailing design approaches for social sustainability. Collecting and collating
seemingly mundane information has uncovered a wealth of knowledge that can be 
translated into valuable insights for individuals who can influence future designs 
and sustainability approaches. Hence, the primary novelty of this thesis lies in the 
mapping of theories concerning sustainable building design and theories 
concerning social practices. This study breaks away from traditional post�occupancy evaluations and offers new insights into sustainable design and building 
use in the context of the Middle East.