Beyond technology: Meeting complex multi-stakeholder challenges in the built environment

Abstract

When contemplating strategies to improve built environments' energy efficiency, indoor environments, and climatic resilience, it is natural for engineers to think of technological measures. However, such improvements require deep collaboration of multiple stakeholders in a complex and multi-layered context. Engineers must thus work closely with stakeholders from diverse areas including buildings’ users, policy makers, and experts from fields such as sociology, psychology, and economy. In this paper, we briefly outline illustrative instances of the limitations of exclusively technology-centric efforts. The intention is to buttress arguments for the critical necessity of integrative strategies to address challenges related to the design and delivery of sustainable, user-centric, and resilient buildings.