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This report presents the significant environmental consequences attributable to the construction and operation of buildings and identifies multi-factor environmental strategies through integrated building simulation tools that can effectively mitigate some of these consequences. Buildings account for approximately 40% of total energy consumption globally, approximately 30% of total greenhouse gas emissions, 12% of water use, and waste a tremendous amount of material through their whole lives. It is through integrated simultaneous analysis and simulation considering multiple environmental factors that can lead to improved mitigation strategies that promote comprehensive mitigation.
The research shows that we have transitioned from a single-factor building simulation tool for energy analysis, to building simulation tools act as integrated platforms that can model complex interactions between energy performance, water use, material impacts, indoor environmental quality, and ecological impacts. This new environmental multiplexer approach allows us to identify synergies and trade-offs between various environmental categories leading to a more transparent and effective mitigation strategy. The research indicates that multi-factor building simulation tools are likely to have the most significant environmental effect when implemented early in the design process. From a preliminary study the research suggests that for 40-60% reduction in energy, 30-50% reduction in water use, and 20-40% reduction in embodied carbon, implementation at the early design phase must have been considered. This report outlines a set of mitigation strategies categorized over five impact categories, and including case studies to illustrate that simulated environmental optimization can create successful outcomes.
In summary, widespread adoption of multi-factor environmental simulation approaches are key to achieving significant reductions in building environmental impacts and we make recommendations to architects, engineers, developers and policymakers for the effective integration of multi-factor simulation into their own word.
