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example, a demand for air tightness has raised questions of air quality and building
inadequacies regarding human health. It is not the focus on energy conservation or other
resource management efforts that is at fault for building failures, but the lack of
transdisciplinary understanding of the impact of each building performance mandate has
on the other performance areas. It is therefore the challenge of the 1980s and 1990s to
understand the critical balance needed to simultaneously ensure the fulfilment of all
building performance mandates. The importance of understanding the total performance
of a building in a holistic sense is undeniable. In many instances, building evaluation is
a first priority as it is imperative to know the status quo of the building before one can
effectively predict future building performance (ASCE).
The concept of overall performance, Total Building Performance (TBP),
emerged in the last decades of 20
th
century, provides a tool for assessing the quality of a
building, in terms of the extent to which all the requirements of performance are satisfied
(Cortana & Goretti, 2007; Roulet, 2004). In order for buildings to achieve its purpose of
providing desirable satisfaction to its occupants, its design process, planning,
construction and management are based on statutory standards and specifications
established by governments, professionals and experts who are supposed to have
adequate knowledge of users’ needs and expectations (Eziyi Offia Ibem, Akunnaya P.
Opoko, Albert B.Adeboye, Dolapo Amole). Studies according to Kaitilla, 1993, Ukoha
and Beamish, 1997; Zeiler and Boxem, 2008; Meir (2009) et al have however shown
that sometimes these standards and specifications do not conform to the chang
