Fuzzy decision approach for selection of most suitable construction method of Green Buildings

A big challenge in sustainable projects is selection of appropriate construction method and is considered to be the decisive factor for its success. Many environment friendly prefabricated elements are entering into the market at an increasing pace. This has increased the workload and inquisitiveness of the stakeholders who will need information about their environmental, technical and esthetic aspects. The use of prefabrication in sustainable construction is advantageous but appropriate decision criteria and their weightage for applicability assessments for a project from every stakeholder's perspective is found to be deficient. Decisions to use prefabricated elements are still largely based on anecdotal evidence or cost-based evaluation rather than holistic sustainable performance. But authenticated information is seldom available and suitability within the project requirements is always debatable. Environmental decisions, being closely coupled with society's built-in uncertainties and risks, are uncertain since ecological systems as well as social systems change in the future. Thus the selection of a suitable construction method has been perceived as a multi-criteria decision-making problem highly intensive in knowledge with partial information and uncertainty. This knowledge or perception base from the minds of experts has to be collected and processed for a decision. Fuzzy synthetic evaluation method using analytic hierarchy process by Saaty has been adopted to provide an analytical tool to evaluate the applicability of prefabricated or on-site construction method.