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An investigation into the erroneous access and egress behaviours of building users and their impact upon building performance

Charlotte Dixon (Department of Engineering and the Built Environment, Faculty of Technology Engineering and the Environment, Birmingham City University, Birmingham, UK)
David John Edwards (Department of Engineering and the Built Environment, Birmingham City University, Birmingham, UK)
Monica Mateo-Garcia (Department of Engineering and the Built Environment, Faculty of Technology Engineering and the Environment, Birmingham City University Birmingham, UK)
Joseph Lai (Department of Building Services Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong)
Wellington Didibhuku Didibhuku Thwala (Department of Construction Management and Quantity Surveying, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa)
Mark Shelbourn (Department of the Built Environment, Birmingham City University, Birmingham, UK)

Facilities

ISSN: 0263-2772

Article publication date: 28 April 2020

Issue publication date: 3 September 2020

249

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the behaviour of building users and how this impacts upon building energy performance. Specifically, the work examines the behavioural traits of able-bodied users of a large higher education building who erroneously access and egress the building using doorways intended for disabled users.

Design/methodology/approach

An inductive methodological approach is adopted that uses grounded theory to devise new insights into building users’ access and egress habits. Structured interviews are conducted to collect primary data from 68 building users of a large educational building over a four-week period. Responses to questions posed provide the basis for a tabularisation of behavioural traits.

Findings

Reasons for able-bodied building users’ preferences to using disabled access are identified and discussed; these are thematically grouped under the headings of apathy, convenience, emergency, ergonomics, ignorance and phobia. Building upon these findings, the research then offers insights into the approaches that could be adopted to change the erroneous behaviours. These approaches include education of building users on the impact their behaviour has upon building performance and environmental pollution, more stringent regulation to penalise repeat offenders and changes to building entrance design using obtrusive (i.e. radio frequency identification tags) and unobstrusive control measures (i.e. a second entrance doorway or slower opening mechanism).

Originality/value

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is the first of its kind to investigate the rationale for able-bodied building users erroneously using disabled persons’ access and egress doorways within a building, which as a consequence, inadvertently reduces the building’s environmental performance.

Keywords

Citation

Dixon, C., Edwards, D.J., Mateo-Garcia, M., Lai, J., Thwala, W.D.D. and Shelbourn, M. (2020), "An investigation into the erroneous access and egress behaviours of building users and their impact upon building performance", Facilities, Vol. 38 No. 9/10, pp. 739-760. https://doi.org/10.1108/F-05-2019-0053

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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