An Integrated Fuzzy-Based Sustainability Framework for Post-Secondary Educational Buildings: A User-Perspective Approach

Abstract

Decreasing the impact of educational buildings on the environment is a primary concern of the sustainable building movement. However, limited research has centered on improving educational building sustainability from users’ perspectives. This study aims to determine an overall user perspective satisfaction scale (OUPS) for post-secondary educational buildings, determine the factors and sub-factors that affect users’ perspectives, and create a building sustainability platform for evaluating user satisfaction. The main goal of the developed model is to offer facility managers the current users’ perspectives on post-secondary educational buildings to improve sustainability from users’ perspectives. The results revealed a significant influence of thermal comfort (40%) and aesthetics (22%) on users’ perspectives. The developed model was validated by experts working in the facility management field and they acknowledged it as having good potential. This work first utilized the Fuzzy Analytic Network Process (FANP) modelling technique to determine weights for each factor and sub-factor and then employed the fuzzy expert system to develop an OUPS. Questionnaire responses and interviews with facility managers and users were used to develop these models for a case study of the M.B. building at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec.