System Dynamics and TOPSIS Models for Sustainable Building Material Selection Considering the Life Cycle Assessment

Abstract

Construction industry is the most contributor to the environmental impacts. Achieving sustainability in construction is complicated, but one of the most optimal strategies is selecting sustainable building materials. The major goal of this study is to present a new idea for choosing sustainable building materials (SBMs) by simulating sustainability parameters' behaviour. This research proposes a System Dynamics (SD) model along with the TOPSIS method based on the dynamic interactions among a number of sustainable criteria to help decision makers in sustainable building materials selection. The sustainable criteria that form system boundary are determined from previous studies and experts′ opinions. The SD model started with creating the Causal Loop Diagram (CLD) of the sustainable criteria to illustrate the interrelation between these criteria. Then, stock and flow (SF) diagram is generated to simulate these criteria and evaluate the performance of building material alternatives. Furthermore, The Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) is applied to select the most sustainable building material depending on the evaluation criteria. Finally, a case study of some common building materials is presented. The results show that wood, (cast-in-situ) concrete, marble tiles, cement bricks are the best SBMs. The development model will assist decision-makers to select SBMs.