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practice [1]. After that, IEA‐EBC initiated Annex 79, which is dedicated to advance in occupant‐centric
building design. IEA EBC ‐ Annex 79 ‐ Occupant‐Centric Building Design and Operation, concerns
questions about occupant comfort, behavior and minimal penetration of advanced occupant modelling
into practice, while also focuses on application and knowledge transfer to practitioners [7]. The annex
contains four subtasks: multi‐aspect environmental exposure, building interfaces, and human behavior;
data‐driven occupant modelling strategies and digital tools; applying occupant behavior models in the
performance‐based design process; and development and demonstration of occupant‐centric building
controls.
The challenges and needs of considering occupant‐centric building design toward future high‐
performance buildings are not only related to technical issues but also arise from lack of efficient
communications and collaborations among different design stakeholders such as engineers and
architects [8]. This gap highlights the need for efficient communication mechanisms on how to agree
on the common objective, share the information, optimize the design, and finally achieve the high
performance design. In the IEA annex 79 subtask 3, “applying occupant behavior models in the
performance‐based process,” activity 3.5 emphasizes the occupant‐centric high‐performance building
development among the various building stakeholders by developing a standard way for
communicating occupant‐related ambition, target, and assumption during designing or retrofitting
buildings.
2.
Methods
This section presents the methodology that should be followed to understand and improve
communications among stakeholders. Also, it also highlights the importance of occupants as key
stakeholders not only during the design phase but also during the entire lifecycle of the building.
2.1 Identification of design stakeholders
One of the main aspects of the building design process is complexity. Complexity of the design
process is a result of having a number of stakeholders involved which requires coordination,
collaboration and effective management to reach the project goals [9]–[11]. The design stakeholders are
the key players who determine the success or failure of a given project [12]. Therefore, in this section
building design stakeholders are defined and the importance of their role in the design process is
highlighted. Then, the importance of occupants as permanent stakeholders of buildings is presented.
Lastly, the current state of sharing occupant‐related data among stakeholders is provided.
2.2 Definition of design stakeholders
Observing the current literature reveals a number of general definitions of a stakeholder. For
example, Clarkson [13] defines stake holders as “Stakeholders are persons or groups that have, or claim,
ownership, rights, or interests in a corporation and its activities, past, present, or future”. Smith [14]
defines project stakeholders as “The term stakeholder is used as a general term to describe individuals,
groups, or organizations that have an interest in the project and can mobilize resources to affect its
outcome in some way.” In light of these definitions we can define building design stakeholders as:
persons or entities who have a role or interest before, during, and after the design process which
includes the project owner, design team, construction team, operators and occupants.
2.3 Importance of identifying stakeholders
Given the definition of stakeholders, identifying stakeholders and their objectives of the final
product (i.e. design / building) is of great importance. The identification of all stakeholders and their
needs, expectations and goals can lead to more profound understanding of the drivers behind their
design decisions and consequently coordinate effectively their design milestones. Building design
stakeholders have different objectives for the design [14], [15]. For example, owner’s primary goal in
Understanding the Needs and Challenges of Occupant-centric Building Design
among Stakeholders: A Review
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