Date of Award
5-2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Civil Engineering
Committee Chair/Advisor
Brandon Ross
Committee Member
Dina Battisto
Committee Member
Michal Jerzmanowski
Committee Member
Zoraya Rockow
Committee Member
Dustin Albright
Abstract
As the demands of the built environment continually evolve, buildings are expected to meet changing occupancy needs, or otherwise they become obsolete. Despite positive research on the benefits of adaptable building design, there is a knowledge gap regarding the long-term economic benefits of these designs. Practical methods are needed to determine if premium costs associated with adaptable designs are justified by the economic benefits inherent in adaptability. Therefore, this dissertation provides a discussion on the application of the financial theory of options analysis to the design of adaptable buildings. Additionally, a model and accompanying tool are presented as a solution for practitioners to utilize in the early decision-making phases of a building project.
The research described herein revolved around three objectives:
1. Apply concepts of real options analyses (ROA) to quantify the economic value of embedded adaptable design strategies.
2. Educate students and professionals on the application of ROA to adaptable building design.
3. Bridge the knowledge and application gaps of ROA and adaptable building design between academia and industry.
Four questions arose from this research, in which the objectives were used as a guide to seek answers to these questions. The first question this research aimed to answer was: How can ROA and Design for Adaptability (DfA) be combined into a practical model for application during the early phases of building design? Objective 1 served as the basis for developing the Real Options Analysis/Design for Adaptability (ROA/DfA) model and Excel tool. This model and tool, which rely on user inputs and historical data, guide users through a six-step decision-making process for an adaptable building design. The tool uses forecasting exercises, Monte Carlo simulations, and triangular distributions to calculate expected values and return on investment for the adaptable design. Prior to the development of ROA/DfA, a case study was conducted in which the well-known Black-Scholes Model was applied to a campus parking garage. This study contributed a separate, but more limited, answer to objective 1.
Questions two, three, and four are interconnected in the manner that they all relate to the proposed ROA/DfA model and tool. The questions guiding the conceptualization and development of the ROA/DfA model and tool are as follows: Q2) What feedback do users give regarding the ROA/DfA model and its application to adaptable designs? Q3) Does the proposed ROA/DfA model and tool have utility for designers? Q4) Is the proposed educational module on ROA/DfA effective in equipping students and professionals with the knowledge of real options application to building design decision-making? These questions are addressed through Objectives 2 and 3 of this research, in which workshops were conducted to collect feedback on the effectiveness and efficiency of the ROA/DfA model and tool, coupled with the disbursement of educational material prior to the workshops to educate participants on the concepts of ROA and DfA.
Recommended Citation
Grice, Miranda, "Quantifying the Value of Adaptability: Bridging Real Options Analysis and Adaptable Building Design" (2026). All Dissertations. 4253.
https://open.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/4253
Author ORCID Identifier
0009-0004-4249-6072