Decision-Making on the Sustainable Development of Office Buildings

Abstract

The Dutch government has issued a legislation that follows the Paris Agreement of 2016. This legislation means that all office buildings in 2023 must have minimum energy label C while the ambition in 2030 is to have energy label A and in 2050 zero energy buildings. It is estimated that currently more than half of the office buildings in the Netherlands must take measures to meet this upcoming obligation before 2023. This research helps the building owner with the decision making in which measures they should invest. Office building owners want to know whether investments can be made from a broader sustainability perspective within the value areas People, Planet and Profit that are also financially justified. Therefore a model is designed which will help the building owners in the decision making process. The objective of the model is to enable mathematical operations on different elements. By using the model, office building owners consider their own organizational interests and objectives within the dimensions People, Planet & Profit. This is done in a so-called weighting process of the different dimensions and their criteria. This will lead that informed decisions can be made on the sustainable development of the building which fits the best between the value areas People, Planet and Profit given the objectives of the organization or client.