A decision support framework to evaluate the main factors affecting the selection of sustainable materials in construction projects

In the present paper, a decision support framework is proposed to solve the problem of sustainable material selection in the construction industry. The developed framework is configured based on statistical analysis methods and a hybrid fuzzy MCDM method. By combining fuzzy AHP and fuzzy TOPSIS methods, the proposed framework was created and implemented for a case study in a mass-house building project in Iran. The purpose of the decision-making process was to choose a new optimal construction system considering criteria affecting the sustainable materials. The results of the ranking criteria showed that the most significant sub-criteria for the selection of sustainable materials were minimising the environmental impacts (ozone depletion, etc.), life-cycle cost, capability to optimise energy consumption, compatibility with sustainable development regulations (LCA, LEED, etc.), material investment long-term cost, respectively. The results also showed that the LSF, ICF, and 3DP systems have more priorities than others, respectively.