The Energy Performance of Building Directive obligated all European countries to reduce the energy requirements of buildings while simultaneously improving indoor environment quality. Any such improvements not only enhance the health of the occupants and their productivity, but also provide further economic benefits at the national level. Accomplishing this task requires a method that allows building professionals to resolve conflicts between visual and thermal comfort, energy demands, and life-cycle costs. To overcome these conflicts, this study exploits the incorporation of building information modelling (BIM), the design of experiments as an optimization algorithm, and the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) into a multi-criteria decision-making method. Any such incorporation can (i) create constructive communication between building professionals, such as architects, engineers, and energy experts; (ii) allow the analysis of the performance of multiple construction solutions with respect to visual and thermal comfort, energy demand, and life-cycle costs; and (iii) help to select a trade-off solution, thereby making a suitable decision. Three types of energy-efficient windows, and five types of ground floors, roofs, and external wall constructions were considered as optimization variables. The incorporation of several methods allowed the analysis of the performance of 375 construction solutions based on a combination of optimization variables, and helped to select a trade-off solution. The results showed the strength of incorporation for analyzing big-data through the intelligent use of BIM and a simulation in the field of the built environment, energy, and costs. However, when applying AHP, the results are strongly contingent on pairwise comparisons.

The construction industry is responsible for 32% of the world’s consumption of natural resources, causing 850 million tons of construction waste in the European Union alone. The construction and manufacturing industries mostly apply a linear economy model, where resources are used once and then disposed of. As a response, the concept of a circular economy (CE) was introduced with the aim of keeping materials within a closed loop and regaining their value in the end-of-life phase. This paper aims to investigate the different CE strategies in the construction industry and the related manufacturing industry and how these strategies can be supported by digital technology. The 11Rs framework has been used as a reference within the concept of CE through a scoping literature review, in which 117 articles were reviewed. The analysis focused on the frequency of the various Rs in papers, as well as their applications and possible implementation. Seven interviews were conducted with Swedish experts to obtain industry perspectives and thereby specify a potential research gap related to CE. According to the study, existing research for the application of CE by construction companies has not been fully explored. There is also a lack of knowledge about CE and its benefits, as well as poor collaboration between different stakeholders, both in information sharing and processes. Findings suggest that all stakeholders in the industries need to make efforts to change their strategies if the transition to CE is to occur.

Validation of the EBD-SIM (evidence-based design-simulation) framework, a conceptual framework developed to integrate the use of lighting simulation in the EBD process, suggested that EBD’s post-occupancy evaluation (POE) should be conducted more frequently. A follow-up field study was designed for subjective–objective results implementation in the EBD process using lighting simulation tools. In this real-time case study, the visual comfort of the occupants was evaluated. The visual comfort analysis data were collected via simulations and questionnaires for subjective visual comfort perceptions. The follow-up study, conducted in June, confirmed the results of the original study, conducted in October, but additionally found correlations with annual performance metrics. This study shows that, at least for the variables related to daylight, a POE needs to be conducted at different times of the year to obtain a more comprehensive insight into the users’ perception of the lit environment.

Windows and blinds play a significant role in both shaping energy consumption and enhancing indoor comfort. But there are still difficulties with selecting windows and blinds due to the existence of potential conflicts between visual comfort, thermal comfort, energy consumption and life-cycle cost. A literature review was conducted with the purpose of developing a decision-making framework that resolves the conflicts, and allows selecting a window and blind design based on trade-off between visual comfort, thermal comfort, energy consumption and life-cycle cost. The decision-making framework was developed by integrating non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II as an optimization algorithm with analytical hierarchy process as a multi-criteria decision-making method. The optimization algorithm considers different window and blind design variables and analyses multiple designs, while the multi-criteria decision-making method ranks the optimization results and selects a trade-off design. An operating package enabled the decision-making framework to be automated. The operating package was obtained by coupling EnergyPlus as a simulation tool and modeFRONTIER as an integration platform. The decision-making framework was developed to select a trade-off window and blind design through intelligent use of simulation in analysing big-data in built environment, energy and cost sectors. Application of the framework ensures the minimum visual and thermal comfort thresholds with the lowest energy demand and cost. Architects and designers can use the framework during the design or renovation phase of residential and commercial buildings.

The use of lighting simulation tools has been growing over the past years which has improved lighting analysis. While computer simulations have proven to be a viable tool for analyzing lighting in physical environments, they have difficulty in assessing the effects of light on occupant’s perception. Evidence-based design (EBD) is a design method that is gaining traction in building design due to its strength in providing means to assess the effects of built environments on humans. The aim of this study was to develop a conceptual framework for integrating EBD with lighting simulation tools. Based on a literature review, it was investigated how EBD and lighting simulation can be combined to provide a holistic lighting performance evaluation method. The results show that they can mutually benefit from each other. EBD makes it possible to evaluate and/or improve performance metrics by utilizing user feedback. On the other hand, performance metrics can be used for a better description of evidence, and to analyze the effects of lighting with more details. The results also show that EBD can be used to evaluate light simulations to better understand when and how they should be performed. A framework is presented for integration of lighting simulation and EBD.

Window blinds have a substantial role in shaping the energy consumption and improving thermal comfort and visual comfort. However, difficulties in selecting a window blind remain, due to existence of potential conflicts between visual, thermal, energy and life cycle cost. To overcome this problem, this study evaluates the performance of interior blinds, including venetian with slat of 0° and 45°, roller and double-pleated blinds with respect to visual, thermal, energy and life cycle cost. Later, the Analytical hierarchy process (AHP) is used for selecting the best blind based on trade-off among the visual, thermal, energy and life cycle cost. In using AHP, visual comfort is determined as most important objective with a weight of 52%. The results show that venetian blind (VB) with slat of 0° drawn 100% is the trade-off blind. Accomplishing the sensitivity analysis on blinds’ global weight shows that VB with slat of 0° drawn 100% remains the trade-off blind until the weight of energy and life cycle cost is below 37% and 57%, respectively, and the weight of visual comfort is above 4%. However, changing thermal comfort weight has no impact on ranking of the blinds. This study shows the capability of AHP in managing the conflicts.