Useful design tools? Experiences from sustainable urban management

Tools for design management are on the agenda in building projects in order to set targets, to choose and prioritise between alternative environmental solutions, to involve stakeholders and to document, evaluate and benchmark. Different types of tools are available, but what can we learn from the use or lack of use of current tools in the development of future design tools for sustainable buildings? Why are some used while others are not? Who is using them? The paper deals with design management, with special focus on sustainable building in Denmark, and the challenge of turning the generally vague and contested concept of sustainability into concrete concepts and building projects. It describes a typology of tools: process tools, impact assessment tools, multi-criteria tools and tools for monitoring. It includes a Danish paradigmatic case study of stakeholder participation in the planning of a new sustainable settlement. The use of design tools is discussed in relation to innovation and stakeholder participation, and it is stressed that the usefulness of design tools is context dependent.