Process Metrics for Predicting Sustainable Building End Performance
Open Access
- Author:
- Sprau, Tabitha Leigh
- Graduate Program:
- Architectural Engineering
- Degree:
- Master of Science
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- None
- Committee Members:
- Michael Horman, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Dr Michael Horman, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor - Keywords:
- green building
builidng performance
sustainability - Abstract:
- Recent advances in the building industry in the area of sustainability have come through actions such as incorporating recycled materials and adopting important energy conservation designs. These actions enable sustainable buildings to reduce their negative impact on the environment while providing a healthier more productive atmosphere for building occupants. To measure sustainable building efforts, point based programs like LEED and Green Star have been developed. Tremendously successful at raising awareness of sustainability, questions remain about the extent of sustainability achieved in LEED rated buildings. Moreover, the current sustainable metric system in the U.S. incorporate little building operation performance levels their certification methods. In short, these evaluation methods have little predictive capability for building performance based on the incorporated green design aspects. The building industry has reached a point in the sustainable building movement where robust metrics are needed to ensure ongoing successful sustainable developments. This paper investigates the issues with current point based sustainable metric systems. In particular, the types of information project owners need when deciding to construct a sustainable building are identified as the literature has shown this type of information to be critical in measuring sustainable performance. The research also examines how actual building performance can be predicted based on the actions and design approach taken during the construction of the building. The research looks at three different case studies to exam when decisions are being made, who is making the decisions and why the decisions are being made. The outcome of the research is a thorough understanding of what sustainable features are wasteful, which are non-value added and which add value to a project. The intent of the proposed research is to determine whether or not it is feasible to measure sustainable decision in such a way that value and the overall affect of sustainable building end performance outcomes can be projected.