This episode makes a powerful case for the critical importance of post-occupancy evaluation, or POE, arguing that it is the construction industry's most essential, and most tragically overlooked, tool for learning and improvement. The discussion begins by highlighting a fundamental and pervasive flaw in the traditional building process: we spend immense amounts of time, money, and energy designing and constructing our buildings, but we almost never go back to systematically ask, "Did we actually get it right?" The episode argues that without this crucial feedback loop, the industry is doomed to repeat the same mistakes, creating buildings that may look good on day one but often fail to meet the real-world needs of their occupants. The conversation then defines what a true POE entails, distinguishing it from a simple punch list or a basic building commissioning process. While those are important, a POE is a much deeper, more holistic, and often-longer-term, investigation that combines both quantitative data—like energy bills, sensor readings, and maintenance logs—with qualitative, human-centered feedback from the people who actually live and work in the building. It's about systematically gathering and analyzing both the hard data and the subjective, lived experience to get a truly comprehensive picture of a building's performance. The episode explores the various barriers that have prevented POE from becoming standard practice, from a cultural resistance to looking back at past projects to the very real contractual and financial hurdles that often leave no one responsible for this crucial work. However, it also champions the immense and often-untapped value that a rigorous POE process can unlock. By creating this essential feedback loop, the episode concludes, we can move from a culture of one-off, often-isolated, projects to a more intelligent, more evidence-based, and more continuously improving industry that is capable of creating buildings that are not just built, but are truly built to last.