Enhancing the User Experience and Decision-Making of Green Building Certification Resources through Usability Testing Methods

Green building is defined as a building providing users with healthy and comfortable living space that also implements efficient use of energy and resources. Guidelines and manuals called green building certification resources help project teams construct green buildings and earn certifications. By focusing on technical aspects, green building certification resource developers overlook usability and likely impact ease of use and overall experience. EarthCraft Multifamily (ECMF) is a green building certification program that has had many years of success in Virginia and Georgia. While ECMF resources have contributed to its success, there is room for improvement. The objective of this research was to investigate ways to improve the user experience and usability of green building certification resources and enhance user decision-making. This research utilized various qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze and discuss various ways that green building certification resources can be improved. Results from this study are based on numerous ways that ECMF resources can be enhanced. Data sources include data from Jefferson et al. (2021), project specifications, developer interview data, stakeholder interview data, and builder interview data. Interviews were conducted with professional architects, builders, and stakeholders that had previous experience with the ECMF program and resources. Interviews were also conducted with members of past development teams that worked on ECMF resources in the past. A comparative analysis following an A/B testing format was conducted on original and alternate versions of ECMF resources. The findings from this study demonstrate that user experiences and usability improvements to ECMF resources can contribute to enhance decision-making. Interview data showed that architects, builders, and stakeholders' experience with ECMF resources were affected by the usability issues present in the resources. Understanding how ECMF resources are utilized and perceived by users allows for the appropriate content and options to be strategically framed to enhance user decision-making in future iterations of ECMF. This research also sets the stage for developers of other green building certification programs such as LEED and Enterprise to replicate this form of study and further enhance their resources which are critical to the development of affordable sustainable housing.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Civil Engineering

Department dc:contributor.department

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Jefferson, Dwayne Ernest

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Paige, Frederick Eugene

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Agee, Philip Ryan
• Garvin, Michael J.
• Jackson, France Lashay

• Green building
• green building certification resources
• EarthCraft Multifamily
• user experience
• UX
• usability

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

vt_gsexam:42158

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/124237