Occupant centric dynamic modeling of sustainability analyses in buildings

Resilience and sustainability in buildings have become societal imperatives, as called for globally in the United Nations Sustainable Cities and Communities Sustainable Development Goal and nationally in the United States’ National Academies Resilient America program. Rising urban populations will result in an increase in building energy demand, emissions, material use, waste, and the influence on human well-being. Building assessment models need to include people, planet, and prosperity (the triple bottom line (TBL)) while considering dynamic use phase conditions if they are to be used in assessments of resilience and sustainability.New methods were developed to assess the TBL and dynamic components of long-lived systems and buildings to support resilience and sustainability goals. A review of building resilient strategies was conducted then categorized into themes and evaluated for their sustainability. Strategies focused on risk avoidance, passive survivability, and response and recovery were largely conducive to sustainability, while those emphasizing durability and longevity and redundant systems were likely to be conflicting. For the first time, data for chemicals leaching from PEX pipes were integrated into a dynamic use-phase life cycle assessment. The mean use-phase toxicity ranges from 6-500 times smaller than upstream impacts. The maximum use-phase results in one pipe brand resulted in twice the impacts of the minimum upstream scenario. A building information model (BIM) was developed to implement a TBL framework, assessing environmental sustainability, occupant satisfaction, and life cycle costs. This was implemented in a case study varying window-to-wall ratio (WWR) designs. Most WWR-driven changes in energy use and environmental impacts were modest relative to the whole building, generally only 1-2% from the baseline, while thermal comfort and life cycle costs deviated by up to 13% and 5% from the baseline, respectively. The scope was then expanded to incorporate climate change and projected energy supply systems into a dynamic LCA (DLCA) and occupant satisfaction model. The DLCA resulted in a reduction of global warming potential, through reduced operational impacts of up to 40%, and increased occupant satisfaction. This research demonstrates the novelty and importance of DLCA with cost and occupant satisfaction to support designing for resilience and sustainability in buildings.