Abstract

Global interest in sustainable and green building design has been increasing in the last few decades. This interest is strengthened by the fact that sustainable measures help in reducing negative social and environmental impacts of buildings. For that, this paper aims to develop a mixed integer optimization model that aids architects/designers and owner representatives during design stage in selecting building materials taking into consideration costs and risks that are involved in the selection process. The model is developed as a simulation optimization tool based on the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system for new construction. The developed model allows deterministic and probabilistic cost analysis of various design alternatives. In addition, it identifies the least possible cost to gain the LEED credits and the risks associated with materials’ quantities and materials’ unit prices. To illustrate the use of the proposed tool, a case study of an office building project constructed in Egypt is presented. An integrated Fuzzy Monte Carlo Simulation (FMCS) analysis is performed to account for the associated risks of using new materials in the considered case study. The proposed model is capable to capture the cost uncertainty of building materials and to identify the cost and sustainability performance of various building materials by relating the LEED rating system for new construction.

Highlights

  • There are many definitions of sustainable development worldwide. Clayton (1993) defines a sustainable development as “a pattern of resource use that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met in the present, and for future generations”

  • The proposed methodology is capable to account for the associated risks of using new building materials using an integrated Fuzzy Monte Carlo Simulation (FMCS) analysis

  • This paper presented the implementation of a model dedicated for sustainable materials selection

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Summary

Introduction

There are many definitions of sustainable development worldwide. Clayton (1993) defines a sustainable development as “a pattern of resource use that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met in the present, and for future generations”. Clayton (1993) defines a sustainable development as “a pattern of resource use that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met in the present, and for future generations”. The essence of this development is to reach to a balanced relationship between human activities and the natural environment (Clayton, 1993). Several studies have been made to help designer and decision makers in applying sustainability standards in building design These studies tried to develop models to optimize life cycle cost and select alternatives to achieve green building certification (e.g., LEED, BREEAM). It is common for project owners to have doubts in implementing

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