Alice Paola Pomè dissertation “In-use Offices and Ecological Footprint: A calculation model to measure the effects of human occupation and behaviour on environmental sustainability” develops a calculation model to measure and manage environmental sustainability in office buildings. The PhD research specifically explores the implementation of sustainable development principles within office building management practices. Through an examination of sustainability practices in the construction sector and the impact of user behaviours on management, the research theories a model based on a sustainability indicator known as the Ecological Footprint.
To achieve the following objectives: (i) identify the best indicator to express the effects of human occupation and behaviours on the environmental impact assessment, a comparative analysis of indicators, models and methodologies has been conducted; (ii) include and compare environmental impacts of various ways of working; and, (iii) categorize the impact of occupation and space configuration in office buildings environmental sustainability, the research adopts the Participatory Action Research (PAR). This participatory methodology allows to combine qualitative and quantitative approach and involve stakeholders since the beginning of the process.
After a comparative analysis of indicators, methodologies, and measurements of environmental sustainability, the Ecological Footprint has been selected as the most suitable indicator for revealing the effects of human occupation and behaviours in the measurement of office buildings environmental impact. The Ecological Footprint has been used to structure the calculation model, called Workplace Integrated Ecological Footprint Assessment (WIEFA), which adopts international standards related to environmental impact assessments in buildings (i.e., BS EN 15978:2011 and BS EN 15643:2021). To verify the applicability of the calculation model, WIEFA has been applied to nine case studies, which also helped to integrate stakeholders comments into the model. Finally, a test step, based on a sensitivity analysis, has been used to verify the effectiveness and the reliability of the model in comparing different ways of working and space configuration of a case study building.
This PhD research contributes to enhance the attention of a more sustainable building management, which contributes in general to the optimization of environmental impact of the construction sector. First, by implementing PAR in the development of an environmental impact assessment, this research corroborate the importance of involving stakeholders to maximize the effectiveness of both the research process and its outcomes. Second, aiming to be a supporting tool for measuring and managing environmental sustainability in office buildings, WIEFA introduced a occupant-oriented approach to integrate the sustainability into building management. Third, WIEFA serves as a tool that support reporting and comparing environmental sustainability of in-use office buildings over-time and cross-territory, and address policies and actions for minimizing environmental impacts for various stakeholders, including owners, investors, managers, and occupants. Fourth, WIEFA is designed as an innovative approach to support ongoing discussions on reducing environmental pressure of the sector through the adoption of digital technologies. Finally, from a practical perspective, this PhD research implemented a framework to measure environmental impact of office buildings, compare different workplace policies, report performances over time, and inform occupants about the impact of their behaviours.
The thesis can be accessed here:
https://hdl.handle.net/10589/216133
Links to related papers:
- A Proposal for Measuring In-Use Buildings’ Impact through the Ecological Footprint Approach: https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=it&user=g2-VeLMAAAAJ&citation_for_view=g2-VeLMAAAAJ:u-x6o8ySG0sC
- Sustainable Workplace: Space Planning Model to Optimize Environmental Impact: https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=it&user=g2-VeLMAAAAJ&citation_for_view=g2-VeLMAAAAJ:WF5omc3nYNoC
- Sustainability in office buildings: a comparison in the measurement of environmental impacts: https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=it&user=g2-VeLMAAAAJ&citation_for_view=g2-VeLMAAAAJ:W7OEmFMy1HYC
- Integrated Ecological Footprint Assessment: A Sustainable Comparative Study of Office Buildings: https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=it&user=g2-VeLMAAAAJ&citation_for_view=g2-VeLMAAAAJ:Y0pCki6q_DkC
- Integrated Ecological Footprint Assessment: how to measure building’s efficiency by looking at the role of human over-consumption: https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=it&user=g2-VeLMAAAAJ&citation_for_view=g2-VeLMAAAAJ:YsMSGLbcyi4C