Optimization of the supplier selection process in prefabrication using BIM

Prefabrication offers substantial benefits including reduction in construction waste, material waste, energy use, labor demands, and delivery time, and an improvement in project constructability and cost certainty. As the material cost accounts for nearly 70% of the total cost of the prefabrication project, to select a suitable material supplier plays an important role in such a project. The purpose of this study is to present a method for supporting supplier selection of a prefabrication project. The proposed method consists of three parts. First, a list of assessment criteria was established to evaluate the suitability of supplier alternatives. Second, Building Information Modelling (BIM) was adopted to provide sufficient information about the project requirements and suppliers’ profiles, which facilitates the storage and sharing of information. Finally, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to rank the importance of the assessment criteria and obtain the score of supplier alternatives. The suppliers were ranked based on the total scores. To illustrate how to use the proposed method, it was applied to a real prefabrication project. The proposed method facilitates the supplier selection process by providing sufficient information in an effective way and by improving the understanding of the project requirements

Multi-criteria decision analysis to assess the environmental and economic performance of using recycled gypsum cement and recycled aggregate to produce concrete: the case of Catalonia (Spain)

The production of virgin raw materials used in construction and the generation of construction and demolition waste (CDW) are key environmental issues in the construction industry. Portland cement and concrete are used extensively in the construction sector. Processing of CDW to produce recycled gypsum cement and recycled aggregates (RA) and their use in the production of structural and non-structural concrete are one way of slowing natural resource depletion and reducing the amount of CDW landfilled. This study proposes the application of multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) to compare the production of “green” concretes made from recycled gypsum cement (RGC) and RA with the production of conventional concrete made from natural aggregate and ordinary Portland cement. The VIKOR MCDA method was employed to determine the best or a set of good alternative(s) for concrete production, considering environmental and economic criteria. The life cycle assessment method was used to select the environmental evaluation criteria, and the reference cost of producing concrete alternatives in Spain was used to determine economic criteria. The results of this study, in which environmental and economic criteria were considered of equal weight, or one of the two criteria was given greater weight, showed that the best option for structural and non-structural concrete was the use of RGC and RA. In both cases, the worst alternative was conventional concrete. In conclusion, we found that the use of RGC and RA in concrete production is positive because it replaces the original raw material, reduces the environmental impact, and lowers the economic costs.Postprint (published version

Environmental, human health and socio-economic effects of cement powders: The multicriteria analysis as decisional methodology

The attention to sustainability-related issues has grown fast in recent decades. The experience gained with these themes reveals the importance of considering this topic in the construction industry, which represents an important sector throughout the world. This work consists on conducting a multicriteria analysis of four cement powders, with the objective of calculating and analysing the environmental, human health and socio-economic effects of their production processes. The economic, technical, environmental and safety performances of the examined powders result from official, both internal and public, documents prepared by the producers. The Analytic Hierarchy Process permitted to consider several indicators (i.e., environmental, human health related and socio-economic parameters) and to conduct comprehensive and unbiased analyses which gave the best, most sustainable cement powder. As assumed in this study, the contribution of each considered parameter to the overall sustainability has a different incidence, therefore the procedure could be used to support on-going sustainability efforts under different conditions. The results also prove that it is not appropriate to regard only one parameter to identify the ‘best’ cement powder, but several impact categories should be considered and analysed if there is an interest for pursuing different, often conflicting interests

Sustainability ranking of desalination plants using Mamdani Fuzzy Logic Inference Systems

As water desalination continues to expand globally, desalination plants are continually under pressure to meet the requirements of sustainable development. However, the majority of desalination sustainability research has focused on new desalination projects, with limited research on sustainability performance of existing desalination plants. This is particularly important while considering countries with limited resources for freshwater such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as it is heavily reliant on existing desalination infrastructure. In this regard, the current research deals with the sustainability analysis of desalination processes using a generic sustainability ranking framework based on Mamdani Fuzzy Logic Inference Systems. The fuzzy-based models were validated using data from two typical desalination plants in the UAE. The promising results obtained from the fuzzy ranking framework suggest this more in-depth sustainability analysis should be beneficial due to its flexibility and adaptability in meeting the requirements of desalination sustainability

Multicriteria decision-making method for sustainable site location of post-disaster temporary housing in urban areas

Many people lose their homes around the world every year because of natural disasters, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and hurricanes. In the aftermath of a natural disaster, the displaced people (DP) have to move to temporary housing (TH) and do not have the ability to choose the settlement dimensions, distributions, neighborhood, or other characteristics of their TH. Additionally, post-disaster settlement construction causes neighborhood changes, environmental degradation, and large-scale public expenditures. This paper presents a new model to support decision makers in choosing site locations for TH. The model is capable of determining the optimal site location based on the integration of economic, social, and environmental aspects into the whole life cycle of these houses. The integrated value model for sustainable assessment (MIVES), a multicriteria decision making (MCDM) model, is used to assess the sustainability of the aforementioned aspects, and MIVES includes the value function concept, which permits indicator homogenization by taking into account the satisfaction of the involved stakeholders.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

MCDA for sustainability assessment – insights to Helmholtz Association activities

The "MCDA for sustainability assessment – insights to Helmholtz Association activities" Working Paper aims to compile and reflect previous and on-going work within the Helmholtz Association related to MCDA, in particular, to present use cases and key methodological aspects. It has a focus on but is not limited to energy technologies and systems and is mainly based on the presentations held at the online workshop “Multi criteria decision analysis for sustainability assessment of energy technologies and systems”. The workshop was organized within the activities of the Helmholtz program ESD Topic 1 "Energy System Transformation" and took place on November 22nd, 2021

Decision support model for the selection of asphalt wearing courses in highly trafficked roads

The suitable choice of the materials forming the wearing course of highly trafficked roads is a delicate task because of their direct interaction with vehicles. Furthermore, modern roads must be planned according to sustainable development goals, which is complex because some of these might be in conflict. Under this premise, this paper develops a multi-criteria decision support model based on the analytic hierarchy process and the technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution to facilitate the selection of wearing courses in European countries. Variables were modelled using either fuzzy logic or Monte Carlo methods, depending on their nature. The views of a panel of experts on the problem were collected and processed using the generalized reduced gradient algorithm and a distance-based aggregation approach. The results showed a clear preponderance by stone mastic asphalt over the remaining alternatives in different scenarios evaluated through sensitivity analysis. The research leading to these results was framed in the European FP7 Project DURABROADS (No. 605404).The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) under Grant Agreement No. 605404

Investigating the ecological efficiency of widely utilized bio-sourced insulation materials in the building lifecycle

Because of rising pollutant emissions, potential global warming results, and rising energy demands, environmentally friendly and renewable building insulation materials are increasing in popularity. The changes in fossil-based energy resource prices, climate variation, and ecological menaces have resulted in important requisitions for bio-sourced and renewable materials, with building products accounting for an important volume. The building sector has important social, environmental, and financial effects. C-footprint of 15 insulating materials was investigated to compare the ecological efficiency of a building over its entire lifecycle. The values calculated were crosschecked with the thermal insulation’s real impact. The benchmark was made with the ecological effect evaluation rating by accounting for each material’s density and also variances in thermal conductivity degree. This research characterizes how to choose the most environment-friendly construction insulating material from the present alternatives based on a series of qualitative and quantitative parameters. It is suggested that the analytic hierarchy process be used to evaluate options and select the best option. The article presents the findings of a search for the most environmentally friendly bio-sourced thermal insulating material for buildings