۱٫ Introduction

۲٫ Background

۳٫ Model proposal

۴٫ Application

۵٫ Conclusions

References

Nowadays the sustainability is one of the primary concerns worldwide, especially in the construction industry, taking into account that the buildings have a major impact on the overall energy use and greenhouse gases emissions. There are many studies focusing on particular aspects of the topic, but a holistic, interdisciplinary and long-term approach is needed in order to reconcile the competitive objectives. Starting from a literature research, the authors have formulated a decision making algorithm aiming to respond to professionals needs to apply a structured model in their daily activities. In the second part it is presented how this model can be applied, using a practical case-study – a building in the renovation phase, emphasizing how to optimize the project even when dealing with conflicting criteria.

Introduction

During the last three decades the primary energy consumption and the CO2 emissions caused by the building sector have significantly grown reaching a share of more than one third worldwide (Molina-Solana, et al., 2017). In this context, immediate actions are required. One of the improvement directions sought by the European Union is refurbishment of the private buildings and enhancement of the appliances performance in buildings. Making decisions taking into account the sustainability principles is significant even from the early design phases, but also during the entire life cycle of a building. There is a need of using a structured managerial approach, oriented towards sustainable goals. The present paper is aiming to propose a structured managerial model for the decision making process in case of buildings through their entire life cycle, seeking to get the most out of the sustainability principles. Based on the analysis of different approaches and tools found in the literature, the model shows a simplified step by step plan. In the first part, the paper identifies and evaluates the existing instruments and tools by their scopes and area of applicability, suggesting the phases when they could be used by practitioners, in order to promote sustainability.