Abstract
One of the most critical elements in the construction industry is the materials used in the structure. The selection of appropriate materials can significantly impact cost, durability, beauty of the building, and many other aspects. Given the importance of sustainable development, it is necessary to carefully examine all the sustainability dimensions, including economic, social, environmental, and technical, which impact both the construction and operation phases of a building lifecycle. This study develops a Fuzzy Expert System (FES) as a knowledge-based decision support system (KBDSS) to rank structural materials according to sustainability criteria. A total of twelve sub-criteria are considered, three under each sustainability criterion. The FES is divided into five sub-systems to reduce the number of rules. A total of 243 rules are implemented in the model using MATLAB Fuzzy Logic Designer Toolbox. A case study was performed to evaluate four structural materials for sustainability criteria. These materials are: timber, concrete, steel, and blended cement. The results of the case study show that timber is the most sustainable material according to user input. However, the developed model can be easily calibrated to reflect changes in experts’ opinions, leading to a different ranking of structural materials.
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