Practice Perspectives on Digital Assessment Tools for Sustainable Building Design
Doctoral thesis, 2026
Digital tools for building sustainability assessment (BSA) can help architects manage social and environmental impact, but existing tools see little use in design practice. Where previous research has emphasised the usability of tool interfaces for the individual practitioner, this thesis instead explores how tool usefulness can be understood through the relational context of design practice. The thesis develops the theory and method of the practice perspective through three studies.
First, through a literature meta-review of previous tool reviews, it was found that previously dominating perspectives are techno-centric, and at best user-centric, indicating that a relational view of practice is missing in existing research.
Second, using the "interview to the double" technique with architectural practitioners in Nordic countries, and through ethnographic observations in an architectural practice in Sweden, it was found that previous activity-based models of the design process can guide tool development if extended by including the communicative purpose of design activities. It was also found that actors integrate sustainability in building design through a digitally mediated process of detecting and managing frictions. Digital tools both provide knowledge about the design situation (epistemic dimension), and structure how the design can be evaluated (normative dimension). The practice perspective highlights the normative dimension, by which the use of tools becomes relationally justified.
Third, the practice perspective was applied during testing of the BSA tool prototype Heath in five Swedish architectural practices. The novel concept practitioner experience (PX) was formalised, initiating a heuristics formation process which expands the concept of user experience (UX) with attention to the relational context of digital interactions. It was found that conventional UX reflects usability, while PX emphasises usefulness.
The thesis contributes a practice perspective showing how digital BSA tools become useful to practitioners. The thesis proposes a tool characterisation framework, ethnographic methods, practice theories, and potential PX heuristics, making the practice perspective actionable during software development. The thesis can inform future development of BSA tools which are not only usable to design practitioners, but also useful in the complex relational context of sustainable building design practice.
First, through a literature meta-review of previous tool reviews, it was found that previously dominating perspectives are techno-centric, and at best user-centric, indicating that a relational view of practice is missing in existing research.
Second, using the "interview to the double" technique with architectural practitioners in Nordic countries, and through ethnographic observations in an architectural practice in Sweden, it was found that previous activity-based models of the design process can guide tool development if extended by including the communicative purpose of design activities. It was also found that actors integrate sustainability in building design through a digitally mediated process of detecting and managing frictions. Digital tools both provide knowledge about the design situation (epistemic dimension), and structure how the design can be evaluated (normative dimension). The practice perspective highlights the normative dimension, by which the use of tools becomes relationally justified.
Third, the practice perspective was applied during testing of the BSA tool prototype Heath in five Swedish architectural practices. The novel concept practitioner experience (PX) was formalised, initiating a heuristics formation process which expands the concept of user experience (UX) with attention to the relational context of digital interactions. It was found that conventional UX reflects usability, while PX emphasises usefulness.
The thesis contributes a practice perspective showing how digital BSA tools become useful to practitioners. The thesis proposes a tool characterisation framework, ethnographic methods, practice theories, and potential PX heuristics, making the practice perspective actionable during software development. The thesis can inform future development of BSA tools which are not only usable to design practitioners, but also useful in the complex relational context of sustainable building design practice.
Architectural design process
User experience
Building performance analysis
Ethnography
Usability testing
Sustainable building
Practice theory
Life cycle assessment
SB-H3
Opponent: Steffen Petersen, Full Professor, Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering, Aarhus University, Denmark.
Author
Toivo Säwén
Sustainable Built Environments
Critical perspectives on life cycle building performance assessment tool reviews
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,;Vol. 197(2024)p. 114407-
Review article
Säwén, T., Sasic Kalagasidis, A. & Hollberg, A. Design as Communicative Activity: Implications for Building Sustainability Assessment Software.
Säwén, T., Gao, X., Beemsterboer, S., Sasic Kalagasidis, A. & Hollberg, A. Networks of Friction at Interfaces for Sustainable Building Design.
Säwén, T., Malakhatka, E., Wiberg, M., Sasic Kalagasidis, A. & Hollberg, A.From User Experience to Practitioner Experience to Analyse the Usefulness of Building Sustainability Assessment Tools.
Varför används inte digitala verktyg för hållbarhetsanalys mer av arkitekter? När arkitekter utformar en byggnad kan verktygen hjälpa till att lösa viktiga problem, som hur byggnader påverkar miljön och hur människor mår. Den här avhandlingen anser att för att kunna utveckla verktyg som gör nytta för arkitekter behöver man titta på hur de arbetar, genom ett praktikperspektiv. För att ta reda på det granskar studien tidigare forskning, intervjuar arkitekter och observerar deras dagliga arbete, och testar prototypverktyg tillsammans med dem. Avhandlingen visar att det inte räcker att undersöka hur verktyg blir enklare att använda. För att göra nytta behöver verktygen också hjälpa arkitekter arbeta tillsammans med andra människor och ting.
Why are digital tools for building sustainability assessment not used more by architects? When designing a building, the tools can help architects fix important problems, like how buildings impact the environment and human wellbeing. This thesis argues that to develop tools that are useful to architects, you need to know how they work, through a practice perspective. To find out, the research looks at previous literature, interviews architects, observes their daily work, and tests prototype tools together with them. The thesis shows that it is not enough to look at how tools can become easier to use. To be useful, the tools also need to help architects work together with other people and things.
Mainstreaming holistic life cycle performance optimisation in early design stages of buildings
Swedish Energy Agency (P51715-1), 2021-01-01 -- 2024-12-31.
Climate awareness tools for building and structure at early design stages - from prototype to implementation
Swedish Energy Agency (P2021-00213), 2022-01-01 -- 2024-12-30.
Life Cycle Assessment and Circular Economy in building design practice – Two sides of the same coin?
Formas (2021-01735), 2022-01-01 -- 2025-12-31.
Subject Categories (SSIF 2025)
Information Systems, Social aspects
Software Engineering
Construction Management
Human Computer Interaction
Structural Engineering
Other Civil Engineering
Building Technologies
Architectural Engineering
Information Systems
Building materials
Sociology
Areas of Advance
Information and Communication Technology
Driving Forces
Sustainable development
Innovation and entrepreneurship
DOI
10.63959/chalmers.dt/5923
ISBN
978-91-8103-466-0
Doktorsavhandlingar vid Chalmers tekniska högskola. Ny serie: 5923
Publisher
Chalmers
SB-H3
Opponent: Steffen Petersen, Full Professor, Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering, Aarhus University, Denmark.