Considering carbon as another criterion on deciding the optimum material mix

Nawarathna, Amalka; Siriwardana, Muditha; Umar, Tariq

Abstract

Embodied carbon (EC) of a building is directly proportional to its used materials and their quantities. Therefore, material selection is a crucial juncture of a building development that cannot be disregarded in attempting to reduce the EC share of whole building life cycle carbon emissions. Irrespective of that fact, material related decision making still relies on the criteria such as cost, time to assemble, quality and durability. It stresses the necessity of taking carbon content of materials into account as another material selection criterion. If materials are to be chosen optimally considering several criteria, a multi criteria decision making method can be adopted. Of various methods that have been developed, Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is one tool that has attracted the wide attention. In light of that, this paper adopted AHP technique and applied in a selected case study to demonstrate how carbon can be included as another decision-making criterion when choosing an optimal material. Depending on the data availability, only material carbon and cost were considered as the selection criteria for the demonstration. Further, the material selection was confined to the elements that create the structure of the selected building. The results indicated that the optimum material mix which was suggested for the building structure is less expensive and emits considerably low emissions compared to the material mix that had been originally chosen. Thus, this study informs the building designers and other relevant decision makers that the early consideration of carbon along with other criteria would facilitate an optimal selection of material mix for building performance, environmental impact, and occupant well-being. Also, the study provides a good insight into the use of AHP and a practical guide to make trade-off decisions.

Citation

Nawarathna, A., Siriwardana, M., & Umar, T. (in press). Considering carbon as another criterion on deciding the optimum material mix.

• Conference Name: SEEDS International Conference 2022
• Conference Location: Bristol
• Start Date: Aug 31, 2022
• End Date: Sep 2, 2022
• Acceptance Date: Aug 8, 2022
• Deposit Date: Oct 4, 2023
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/11151178