Human-AI Collaboration Conditions for EPD Reviews

HUMAN-AI COLLABORATION CONDITIONS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCT DECLARATION REVIEWS

This research explores conditions for trustworthy human-artificial intelligence (AI) collaboration in Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) reviews for construction. EPDs are essential for life-cycle-based sustainability assessment; however, their review is a manual, knowledge-intensive process performed by a few specialists. While AI integration can support review processes, establishing trust and accountability in AI-supported reviews, as well as their explainability to relevant actors, remains unexplored. The research addresses the critical challenge of building and maintaining trust and ensuring continuous explainability in human-AI collaboration within the EPD review process for the construction sector. We propose a systematic approach that identifies and classifies the essential steps and sociotechnical conditions in the EPD review process, and develops metrics and implementation strategies for human-AI collaboration through structured engagement with relevant stakeholders, including verifiers, manufacturers, and program holders. Using multi-level analysis and ethics-based auditing, it develops a comprehensive trust framework and quality metrics for human-AI collaboration in environmental reporting. This interdisciplinary methodology will result in a comprehensive integration program for AI-co-verified EPDs to ensure technical accuracy, compliance with expert knowledge, and social acceptance. Results will support advancing sustainable transitions in the construction sector while contributing to responsible AI implementation in knowledge-intensive processes.

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Philip Leistner
Institute for Acoustics and Building Physics (IABP), University of Stuttgart

Dr. Yana Boeva
Institute for Social Sciences (SOWI), University of Stuttgart

Prof. Dr. Cordula Kropp
Institute for Social Sciences (SOWI), University of Stuttgart

RESEARCHERS

Lars Bippus (IABP) lars.bippus@iabp.uni-stuttgart.de

Thomas Betten (IABP) thomas.betten@iabp.uni-stuttgart.de

FUNDING
IRIS-HISIT, State Ministry of Science, Research, and the Arts Baden-Wuerttemberg (grant number: Az.: MWK11-0430.0-1/7/5)