Understanding Occupant-Centric and Operational Sustainability for Cost-Effectiveness in Tomorrow's Building Trends
Abstract
The building sector stands at a pivotal juncture, grappling with its significant contribution to global energy consumption and carbon emissions while facing escalating pressure to enhance economic viability. Traditional approaches to sustainable design have often prioritized technological efficiency and prescriptive standards, inadvertently creating a "performance gap" where projected savings fail to materialize in operation. This paper posits that the next frontier in sustainable construction lies in the synergistic integration of occupant-centric design principles and data-driven operational sustainability. Through a systematic literature review and conceptual analysis, this article explores the paradigm shift from static, building-centric models to dynamic, human-in-the-loop systems. We investigate how the convergence of the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Building Information Modeling (BIM) facilitates the creation of responsive building ecosystems that learn from and adapt to occupant behavior. The core argument is that by explicitly designing for occupant well-being, comfort, and agency, and by leveraging real-time data for continuous optimization, buildings can achieve a dual objective: superior environmental performance and significant, long-term cost-effectiveness. This paper delineates the key technological pillars—Digital Twins, Federated Learning for privacy-preserving analytics, and AI-driven predictive maintenance—that underpin this transition. It further presents a framework for evaluating the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) that captures the hidden financial benefits of enhanced productivity, health, and asset resilience. The findings indicate that the occupant-centric and operational sustainability model is not merely an ethical imperative but a robust strategy for de-risking investments, unlocking new value streams, and ensuring the long-term economic and environmental viability of tomorrow's building stock.
Keywords
Occupant-Centric Design, Operational Sustainability, Cost-Effectiveness, IoT, AI, Digital Twin, Building Performance Gap, Total Cost of Ownership, Healthy Buildings, Predictive Maintenance.
Citations
IRE Journals:
Foluso Israel Taiwo, Adelese Solomon Akinseye "Understanding Occupant-Centric and Operational Sustainability for Cost-Effectiveness in Tomorrow's Building Trends" Iconic Research And Engineering Journals Volume 9 Issue 6 2025 Page 2517-2525 https://doi.org/10.64388/IREV9I6-1712797
IEEE:
Foluso Israel Taiwo, Adelese Solomon Akinseye
"Understanding Occupant-Centric and Operational Sustainability for Cost-Effectiveness in Tomorrow's Building Trends" Iconic Research And Engineering Journals, 9(6) https://doi.org/10.64388/IREV9I6-1712797
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