This article is based on a comparative postoccupancy evaluation (POE) carried out during the years of 1995 and 1996 in four office buildings located in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, and discusses the methodological issues, analyses, and recommendations of the study. In this study, emphasis was placed on (a) the relation between the socioeconomic profile and the behavior of users of the buildings, and (b) the level of satisfaction with the quality of urban life and with the work environment. The case studies were carried out on two buildings with centralized environmental controls with some information technologies and two conventional buildings. This study concludes that during the planning and the design phases, performance criteria should be developed involving not only the desired satisfaction and productivity of workers but also the quality of business, services, leisure, and other benefits related to the urban environment of the neighborhood in which these buildings are located.
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