From Decision Theory to Informed Decision-Making in the Design of Sustainable High-Performance Buildings

The design of sustainable high-performance buildings entails dealing with numerous decisions associated with the inclusion and assessment of design objectives and criteria made by multiple decision-makers (or design stakeholders). A more in-depth study of the decision-making fundamentals will, therefore, be effective and practical in this regard. Based on this underlying hypothesis, as a first attempt towards investigating the decision-making structures in the (early) design of sustainable high-performance buildings, and in addition to the empirical application of normative decision-making models, this paper presents the results of two rounds of assessment surveys through conducting semi-structured interviews with practitioners and professionals in Denmark on (a) when and with whom a decision is made, and (b) to what extent a decision can be made autocratically or participatorily. The research study is intended to enable practitioners and researchers to recognize the importance of decision-making characteristics in addressing highly complex sustainability criteria in the (early) design of high-performance buildings. The outcome ensures a systematic approach to involve the right decision-makers at the right time and with suitable decision-making styles. With its strong ability to formalize problems faced by sustainability requirements, the outcome can potentially become a research avenue in future building design contexts.