CONTEMPORARY STRATEGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE DESIGN A Dissertation by FRANCISCO FARÍAS Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Approved by: Chair of Committee, Mark J. Clayton Committee Members, Jeff Haberl Wei Yan Terry Larsen Head of Department, Ward Wells May 2013 Major Subject: Architecture Copyright 2013 Francisco Farías ABSTRACT This exploratory research examined the degree of adoption and impact of the concepts of Building Information Model (BIM), Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), Integrated Design Process (IDP) and Building Energy Simulation (BES) on the design processes of advanced architectural firms when executing sustainable design. Six offices identified by the press for a strong commitment to sustainable design and influence in the design of high performance buildings were selected as cases. In semi-standardized interviews, these firms presented their perceptions of the influence of BIM, BES, and IPD/IDP. The results show that a generalization of sustainable design processes is possible. A design process for sustainability (DEPROSU) model was created by collecting best practices from data gathered from the interviews and the critical literature review. Secondary contributions show that BIM, IDP/IPD and BES have a synergistic effect in sustainable design methods, and that the human resource profile from these firms has evolved towards multi-skilled professionals knowledgeable in BES, BIM, parametric design, sustainability and construction processes. This research provides evidence of commonalities found in the design processes of the selected firms. These commonalities, which have been represented in the DEPROSU model, can potentially be validated as protocols or standards for sustainable design, providing architectural design practices with concrete patterns for improvement and or validation of their design methods. ii DEDICATION To my lovely wife Catarina Thomson and my daughter Mila Farias Thomson iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude and appreciation to my committee chair, Dr. Mark J. Clayton, whom I also consider my friend, and my committee members, Dr. Haberl, Dr. Yan, and Dr. Larsen for their guidance and support throughout the course of this research. Special thanks to my mother Alejandra and mother in law Pamela for their help taking care of Mila while my wife and I worked on our dissertations. Without their help, this work would not reach an end. I also would like to thank my father Hector for his infinite patience in being OK with my mother staying with us for so long, and to my father in- law Ian for his continuous support. Thanks also go to all participants (names are kept confidential) from Lake|Flato; Foster + Partners; TR Hamzah and Yeang; HOK; HKS– London and HKS – Dallas for participating in this research. Without your help, this would not be possible! Thanks to my friends and colleagues and the department faculty and staff for making my time at Texas A&M University a great experience. More specifically, I am very thankful to my friends and colleagues Ozan Ozener, Carlos Nome, James Haliburton, Sandeep Kota, WoonSeong Jeong, Jong Bum Kim, Ehsan Barekati, Rana Zadeh, Duygu Yenerim, iv Mohammad Asl and Saied Zarrinmehr for providing sincere help, expertise, and suggestions when most needed. I also want to extend my gratitude to the Office of Graduate Studies, for selecting me for the Texas A&M Dissertation Fellowship, which provided invaluable financial help and technical support. I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to Anat Geva for her continuous support during the course of the program. Thanks to Melinda Randle and Hala Gibson for their friendship and help when I needed. Thanks to Liliana Beltrán for helping me at the beginning of the program, and to Jill Raupe for her support on administrative issues. Furthermore, I would like to thank Dean Jorge Vanegas for his kindness when I was looking for financial support. Above all, I wish to express my deepest thanks and love to my family for believing in me. They are the most wonderful family anyone could ever wish for, and for that I am truly grateful. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. ii DEDICATION .......................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................... iv TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................... vi LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................... x LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................... xii 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 1 1.1 Overview of the Dissertation ............................................................... 1 1.2 Description of Sections ....................................................................... 3 1.3 Research Objectives ............................................................................ 4 1.4 Impact of Buildings ............................................................................. 5 1.5 Current Situation for Sustainable Architectural Design Methods ....... 10 1.6 Definitions ........................................................................................... 10 2. LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................................. 16 2.1 Sustainable Architectural Design ........................................................ 16 2.1.1 Scholarly Works about Sustainable Architecture and Design Processes .................................................................. 17 2.1.2 Trends in Sustainable Architectural Design ...................... 29 2.1.3 Institutional Efforts to Help Sustainable Design ............... 31 2.2 Importance of Building Performance Assessment .............................. 33 2.3 Green Building Rating Systems (GBRS) ............................................ 36 2.4 Building Information Modeling (BIM) ............................................... 42 2.4.1 Interoperability .................................................................. 50 2.4.2 Efforts Made to Overcome Interoperability Issues ........... 51 2.5 BES and BIM ...................................................................................... 54 2.5.1 List of Popular BES Tools Used by Architectural Firms .. 55 2.5.2 List of Integrated Design Energy Analysis Suites ............ 59 2.6 Integrated Design Process (IDP) ......................................................... 64 vi Page 2.7 Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) ....................................................... 66 2.7.1 Critique of Project Delivery Methods ............................... 69 2.7.2 Combination of IPD, BIM and BES in a Design Process . 78 2.7.3 Case Studies on Combining IPD and BIM. ....................... 87 3. METHODS ........................................................................................................ 95 3.1 Overview of Methods for Qualitative Research .................................. 95 3.2 Alternatives Methods Employed ......................................................... 97 3.3 Data Collection and Procedures .......................................................... 99 3.4 Interview Process ................................................................................ 102 3.5 Structural and Demographic Aspects of the Firms ............................. 105 3.6 Description of Data Analysis Techniques ........................................... 107 3.6.1 Transcription .................................................................... 108 3.6.2 Coding ............................................................................... 108 3.6.3 Thematic Analysis ............................................................. 110 3.6.4 Exploratory Analysis ......................................................... 117 3.6.5 Validity and Reliability ..................................................... 119 4. SELECTION OF THE CONTRIBUTING FIRMS ......................................... 120 4.1 Commitment to Sustainability ............................................................. 120 4.2 Projects Designed by the Participants ................................................. 123 4.2.1 HOK: NASA 20 ................................................................ 124 4.2.2 Lake|Flato: Arizona State University Polytechnic Academic ................................................................. 128 4.2.3 HKS: MGM City Center – Aria Resort and Casino .......... 135 4.2.4 TR Hamzah and Yeang: Solaris Project ............................ 140 4.2.5 Foster + Partners:The Masdar Initiative ............................ 146 5. DATA ANALYSIS .......................................................................................... 154 5.1 Analysis of the Organizational Structure of the Participants .............. 156 5.1.1 Impact of Hierarchical Firm Organization ........................ 156 5.1.2 Large Firms ....................................................................... 157 5.1.3 Medium Firms ................................................................... 165 5.2