Guest Editors’ Preface (Special issue “A Paradigm Shift in Integrated Building Design - Towards Dynamically Operated Buildings”)

Abstract

The primary function of the building has not been changed through the whole history of mankind – to provide shelter from the exterior conditions and provide the environmental control for comfort and health of the occupants. Despite the fact of having the same function, the requirements on building design are constantly increasing (high energy performance, airtightness, resource efficiency, healthy indoor climate, different aspect of indoor comfort – hygrothermal, visual and acoustic; etc.) making the building a highly complex system (building envelope, technical and service systems, automatization and control systems, interaction with occupants). In traditional approach, buildings were designed to meet certain, usually predefined, criteria of function and comfort, regardless of how they fit with the natural (local) surrounding. In this prescriptive design approach, buildings were designed and constructed for current conditions as ‘static’ structures isolated from their environment and the occupant. A paradigm shift in the integrated design implies changing the traditional design principles that are rooted in our codes and standards. We believe that the prescriptive thinking should be left in the past. A paradigm shift implies understanding that each building is a ‘dynamic’ system responding to, both outdoor and indoor climates. This new design paradigm is striving for a good indoor environment and high energy performance of building by interacting with the local climatic conditions and requirements of its use. At the same time, impact of building on the environment and its operating costs during the whole life cycle are taken into account, whereby durability of construction materials, building envelope systems, technical systems and building as a whole are put into focus. Performance-based design, that considers environmental, economic and social aspects, is in line with principles of sustainable development and thus, sustainability has become one of inevitable paradigms of integrated building design. New innovative technologies are constantly emerging, but they need to remain in the wellknown triangle technology-people-process, which means that integration of innovative technologies and strategies in buildings is good only if they are useful to the occupants, i.e. they are useful only if occupants are capable of using it. The paradigm shift towards integrated building design, also progressing towards dynamically operated buildings, facilitates integration of different professions in both design and construction. The interaction between different disciplines, high level of expertise and awareness are playing the key role. The importance of experience gained from previous failures has become crucial, especially when embracing digitalization and industry 4.0 in building design and construction. Many of the issues in building science, in context of energy efficiency, ecology, economy and social values as integral part of sustainability, have been addressed by papers presented