The session was presented by Aranzazu Galán González, Senior Researcher at Université Libre de Bruxelles and BUILD UP Editorial Team Member, and moderated by Clarice Bleil de Souza, Professor at Cardiff University, Liam O'Brien, Full Professor at Carleton University, and Farhang Tahmasebi, Lecturer at University College London.

The objective of the event was to provide a brief overview of the contents of the entire book, going chapter by chapter, to give interested readers an idea of what to expect from it. Additionally, there was time for questions and discussions with some of the book’s authors (see below for chapters and presenters) about key topics in the book. 

The motivation for writing the book was to tackle a problem of current design options largely missing or not including the role of building occupants, despite the purpose of buildings being to house and to provide spaces for occupants. 

"Most of the authors had this overwhelming feeling that occupants just have not been properly brought into the building design process".

As such, there remains a large uncertainty about the impact of occupants which leads to what is called a “performance gap” where the occupant (often) gets blamed for a difference between predicted and measured performance of the building. By bringing the occupant into the building process in a more direct way, occupant behaviour and its impact on the performance of buildings can be better understood and, in turn, the way buildings are designed can be improved to better suit occupants, leading to a reduction in the “performance gap” and improved comfort and wellbeing for the occupants. 

The book is divided into two main sections: Fundamentals of IEQ and occupant needs – looking at occupant needs and how they can be brought into the design process - and Simulation and Design – occupant modelling and advanced modelling to improve the design and obtain information that will help in decision making. It is further supported by a series of detailed case studies. 

Important for readers to note is that the book is open-access. 

The session included two Q&A moments, where the authors answered questions from the audience. 

Presentation of book chapters: 

• Chapter 1 “Introduction” presented by Liam O'Brien, Full Professor at Carleton University. 
• Chapter 2 “Fundamentals of IEQ and occupant needs” presented by Christiane Berger, Assistant Professor at Aalborg University.
• Chapter 3 “Occupants in the building design decision-making process” presented by Clarice Bleil de Souza, Professor at Cardiff University.
• Chapter 4 “Methods to obtain the occupant perspective” presented by Clinton Andrews, professor, center director, and associate dean at Rutgers University.
• Chapter 5 “Occupant-centric performance metrics and performance targets” presented by Liam O'Brien, Full Professor at Carleton University. 
• Chapter 6 “Introduction to occupant modelling” presented by Liam O'Brien, Full Professor at Carleton University.
• Chapter 7 “Fit-for-purpose occupant modelling: choosing the best approach” presented by Isabella Gaetani, Senior Research Scientist at Arup Smart Buildings.
• Chapter 8: “Advanced simulation methods for occupant-centric building design” presented by Farhang Tahmasebi, Lecturer at University College London.
• Chapter 9 “Building interfaces – Design and considerations for simulation” presented by Philip Agee, Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech.
• Chapter 10 “”Design of sequences of operation for occupant-centric controls” presented by Burak Gunay, Assistant Professor at Carleton University.
• Chapter 11 “Detailed Case Studies” presented by Liam O'Brien, Full Professor at Carleton University.