Investigating the potential impact of stakeholder preferences in Passivhaus design

Low-energy buildings have a major role to play in achieving carbon emission reduction targets. The Passivhaus standard is driven by improved thermal comfort and has stringent targets for limiting energy consumption. Such constraints can be difficult to achieve with aesthetically pleasing results. In early stage building design, decisions are often made based on preferences, without assessing their impact on energy performance. Multi-criteria decision-making provides a technique of evaluating competing criteria using a robust framework. However, existing research in building performance focusses on quantitative measures, leaving a research gap in the subjective area of design preferences. This paper applies a modelling technique that incorporates user preferences, alongside quantitative building performance measures, by applying multi-criteria decision-making to a Passivhaus case study. Potential building forms are evaluated using dynamic simulation, then the impact of stakeholder preferences is assessed.