Case Study Analysis of the Material Selection Process during Dwelling Design in Flanders

Abstract

Sustainable material use is gaining attention in the field of sustainable building, but is not often integrated in common housing design yet. Research has shown that early design decisions strongly contribute to the final sustainability level, but in early stages architects mostly rely on intuition and experience to make decisions. To gain insight in when, how and why architects currently make material-related design decisions, a case study analysis of 14 design projects was conducted together with semi-structured interviews with the involved architects. Results show that in early design, material choice is rudimentary and mostly made by architect and client. Later on, materials are specified by different actors. Motives for material choices are quite divers, but budget is an important constraint and sustainability is not (yet). More detailed insights are presented in the paper and will be used in the development of design support tools for sustainable material use for architects.