Comprehensive Risk Management in Passive Buildings Projects

Abstract

Nowadays, we can observe a growing interest in passive buildings due to global climate change, environmental concerns, and growing energy costs. However, developing a passive building is associated with meeting many Passive House requirements, which results in their increased complexity as well as many challenges and risks which could threaten the successful completion of the project. Risk management is a key tool enabling meeting today’s challenging passive house project’s demands connected with quality, costs, deadlines, and legal issues. In this paper, a new model of risk management dedicated for passive buildings based is proposed, in which a novel Fuzzy Fault Tree integrated with risk response matrix was developed. We proposed 171 risk remediation strategies for all 16 recognized risks in passive buildings projects. We show how to apply the proposed model in practice on one passive building example. Thanks to applying the proposed risk management model an effective reduction of the risks of the basic event is enabled, leading to a significant reduction of the top event risk. The proposed model is useful for architects, installation designers, contractors, and owners who are willing to develop attainable and successful passive buildings projects that benefit all stakeholders.

Passive Buildings—Big Opportunities or Big Risks? Quantitative Risk Assessment for Passive Buildings Projects

“…It is also worth comparing the critical risk factors obtained, for which risk management should be particularly careful, with the results of the risk assessment for real projects, which was carried out by experts. In [45], a comprehensive risk assessment was carried out for a single-family passive building of 175.16 m 2 located in Poland. Its walls were made of prefabricated polygon-reinforced concrete elements with styrofoam insulation.…”

“…In the previous work of the author, thirty risk factors related to passive building design and construction were identified, and a qualitative Failure Mode and Effect Analysis was applied to identify the causes, consequences, and detection possibilities of PH problems [44]. In another author's previous work [45], a new expert risk-management model for PHs based on the Fuzzy Fault Tree and risk-management matrix was presented, and 171 riskmanagement strategies were listed. Table 1 presents some interesting troubleshooting and mitigation solutions for passive buildings that have been described in the literature so far.…”

“…Proposal of a multiobjective optimization model for thermal comfort and energy consumption in a residential building applying multiobjective genetic algorithm TRNSYS simulations and Artificial Neural Network [53] Presentation of the performance of a mobile shading system with a Phase-Change Heat Store to lighten the rooms with natural light and lower the overheating of the rooms (a 29.4% decrease in room overheating in the summer was observed) [29] Discussion about the problem of underestimating the hours of overheating during the development of the energy model of PHs because of overstating design ventilation and infiltration rate in the design. Proposition to coupling the thermal and airflow network models when carrying out overheating analysis [45] A total of 171 risk-management strategies for problems with PHs were given (for problems with architectural and construction design, problems with installation design, problems on the construction site, and problems with management and environment) [44] Identification of detection possibilities for 30 problems in PHs [54,55] Presentation of risk assessment models for complex and innovative low-energy building construction projects with renewable energy sources…”

“…In summary, the literature reports a number of problems in passive building projects and provides some interesting troubleshooting solutions. Although a complete model of comprehensive risk management based on project evaluation by an expert has already been described in the literature in [45], the literature lacks information on the frequency of occurrence of risk factors, the severity of their effects, or the quantified possibility of their detection. This information with its subsequent analysis and development of a model based on statistical data would be very useful for assessing the risk of low-budget passive building projects where it is not possible to employ external experts for risk assessment.…”

Development of a New Method for Assessing Project Risks in Sustainable Building Construction Projects in Developing Countries: The Case of Jordan

“…Green building projects encounter more risks than conventional buildings due to the necessity of achieving the objectives of sustainability [21]. Innovative and sustainable buildings provide many benefits; nonetheless, it is essential to acknowledge that their design and construction entail more complexity and are accompanied by elevated levels of risk and uncertainty compared with conventional buildings [22]. Reducing resource consumption, removing pollutants, and applying life cycle costing are significant concepts of sustainable construction, which differ significantly from traditional building practices.…”