Abstract
Stakeholder engagement is crucial to the design and construction stages of net zero buildings, requiring interdisciplinary collaboration to promote the integrated design process. The double diamond method is used to structure three briefing methods, deployed as stakeholder engagement to promote the integrated design process and identify pathways to regional, socio-technical knowledge utilisation. Stakeholders in three medium-sized, early stage, construction projects in the UK, Ireland and Rwanda included a range of construction professionals, facility users and policymakers. A consultation survey evidenced recurrent themes of professional agency in responding to the climate emergency and importance of carbon reduction through quality project delivery. A participatory workshop established systemic connections of building performance spanning concept, design, construction and operation life-cycle stages which encompassed technical, environmental, economic and social considerations of performance. A priority weighting workshop evidenced cross-case dominance of the provision of healthy environments relative to carbon and economic targets. A range of participation benefits was evidenced from a longitudinal evaluation of participation in the study. Future research directions for net zero buildings and the integrated design process include the use of decision-analysis methods.
Practice relevance
A practical approach is provided for project teams to enable interdisciplinary collaboration between construction professionals, clients and policymakers in early-stage net zero building projects. A framework of structured engagement activities helps stakeholders identify performance ambitions (survey), clarify priorities (workshop) and explore systemic performance issues across the building life-cycle, balancing also environmental, social and cost aspects (workshop). The findings highlight the importance of leadership from clients and proactive design teams in embedding sustainability and innovation. The workshops presented in this study can be adapted by practitioners to explore trade-offs, build shared understanding and identify opportunities for using local low-carbon materials. Applying the double diamond method simply but effectively enables the generation, discussion and refinement of diverse stakeholder knowledge during the early project stages. The paper demonstrates how participation benefits can be tracked over time. Practitioners will find guidance for making stakeholder engagement more purposeful and impactful in delivering holistic net zero buildings.