Balancing sustainability and resilience in buildings: a resilience module for an existing sustainability rating system

The built environment is increasingly vulnerable to the frequent and severe hazards posed by climate change. Many existing buildings need to be more adequately equipped to withstand these threats, highlighting the need for adaptation strategies for new and existing building stock. Green building rating systems, developed and adopted since the 1990s, provide a framework for measuring sustainability; however, they largely lack the integration of resilience principles, indicating a critical gap in implementation. The primary objective of this PhD thesis is to develop a new Resilience Module, structured in a manner similar to existing building rating systems, and integrate it into the SBToolCZ framework, using this Czech national sustainability rating system as a case study. An extensive review of existing literature was conducted to identify recurring elements of sustainability and resilience in buildings. This informed the selection of relevant criteria and indicators for developing the Resilience Module. A weighting process was performed, with input from a panel of experts, to determine the significance of each criterion. The Resilience Module was tested as a standalone system on three building case studies located in the Czech Republic, assessing its effectiveness in measuring building resilience. Finally, the Resilience Module was integrated into the SBToolCZ rating system and tested in a building case study to compare the standard and integrated versions, demonstrating the feasibility and added value of the integration. The primary outcome of this research is a Resilience Module that can function independently as a tool for guiding designers toward more resilient projects while also being adaptable for incorporation into any green building rating system by integrating the criteria into existing categories. This work marks a significant advancement in incorporating resilience principles into building design, ensuring that both sustainability and resilience are considered, thereby enhancing the built environment's preparedness for future climate change-related hazards.