Living Labs: Measuring Human Experience in the Built Environment

The built environment affects the behaviors and experience of its occupants. Recent technological advances have made it possible to simultaneously quantify features of indoor and outdoor built environments and people’s reactions and behaviors within these environments. In a new research methodology, the “living lab”, aspects of the environment are varied, and people’s consequent reactions and behaviors to environmental changes are measured through a combination of objective automated sensing capabilities and behavioral techniques. This approach can be implemented within tightly controlled lab spaces or out in the real world, creating new opportunities to research human-environment interactions across a variety of environments and populations. In this workshop, we highlight the capabilities of the living lab methodology and share how insights from lab and real-world research can inform innovative applications to improve the health, performance, and well-being of building occupants.