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This paper explains the results of a doctoral thesis in production engineering and presents a tool for the qualitative evaluation of office buildings performance, using the Cosenza hierarchical analysis model (HAM). This embodies the principles of the complex thought of Edgar Morin, of fuzzy sets approach and of linguistic variables use. Starting from a group of regular attributes, HAM confronts, in one single operation, the competing forces of space and building facilities by different organizations with the supply of a group of buildings. The results of the simulation confirm the effectiveness of a tool that links manageability to a formal representation of a subjective decision‐making processes, based on environment‐behaviour aspects. Whilst confronting different organizational demands with the supply of a group of buildings, this model makes possible rapid decision making and the identification of a supply profile for the purpose of acquisition.

The city of São Paulo, as one of the World’s mega‐cities, has considerably increased the quantity of commercial floor space recently, with around 160,000m² added in this sector in 1998 and another 400,000m² planned for 1999. For this post‐occupancy evaluation (POE), the building chosen was a recently designed office building, considered to be high‐tech which has a total of 34 floors including six underground levels, 1,033m² of useful area per floor and circulation of more than 3,000 people per day. The unique situation of the different users, with their particular layouts, is an area that has still not been analyzed in POEs in Brazil. This paper will present the results of a pilot POE applied to four floors occupied by the headquarters of a manufacturer of domestic appliances, focusing on the methodological approach.

Presents an innovation in surveys and consulting activities in the performance evaluation of work environments in Brazilian cities such as São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro by means of selected and specific examples in the financial sector. Large office buildings, as intelligent enterprises, are still in need of efficient tools for quality control of production processes, use, operation and maintenance, besides the concerns for diverse agents involved in this design with aspects such as advanced technology, automation and security. Two case studies have been chosen in the financial sector – one of the fastest growing service sectors in large Latin American cities – where methods and evaluation techniques were applied, with a focus not only on technological aspects, but also on the collection of functional parameters and indicators of occupation, security and automation, which is aimed at productivity and satisfaction for the users and occupants of these office buildings.

This paper aims to present the results of a post‐occupancy evaluation (POE) in a complex hospital building, and also to discuss a system for analyzing and diagnosing those results.

The POE was aimed at establishing adequate use and maintenance of the building. The main approaches of the study consisted of two basic performance features, namely, physical accessibility and fire safety.

The importance of the pre‐design evaluation (PDE) might also be recalled as well as the usefulness of the POE for new designs and for remodeling existing buildings, because these instruments aid in the constant updating of directive plans of occupation, especially in the case of large complexes such as health care facilities. One indication of this importance is the relatively low number of problems detected during the POE, when one considers the complexity of the work of renovation and the dimensions of the IPq facilities.

The paper presents the results of a POE and recommendations that would make it possible to quickly identify the points where there is need for improvement, and the degree of importance or priority to be given.

The objective of this paper is to draw up management guidelines on environmental sustainability for architectural and engineering design firms.

The paper is derived from a research experience between 2010 and 2018. That experience comes from three source sets: Management Development Program for Design Firms from the Research Line of Management Design, Department of Civil Construction Engineering, University of São Paulo in Brazil; papers including a doctoral thesis; and literature review. Revisiting and investigating processes were conducted by research questions, resulting in lessons learned, management difficulties and guidelines.

The guidelines were drawn up from a strategic sphere, understanding internal and external factors to the firm, diagnosis of the firm's management and sustainability, a building sustainability plan, implications of the plan for management processes, plan monitoring and control and plan evaluation.

The studies were mostly conducted in Brazil, and one of them in the USA. Other studies could be carried out in other countries comparing findings or implementing the guidelines.

The findings will provide feedback to Management Development Program for Design Firms (PDGEP) in the action research method. Moreover, the knowledge about firm's capabilities can advance understanding of architectural and engineering (AE) design firm management as support for sustainability, performance and building information modeling (BIM).

Architectural and engineering design firms are hardly discussed; design is treated in the building project context, giving prominence to technical solutions, not to management ones.