Materials Selection in Green Construction Quantitative and Qualitative Considerations for Designers and Construction Managers

The selection of materials has a significant impact on the performance and certification of a sustainable building. Typically, construction professionals focus on quantitative measures. But what about qualitative aspects? Or the perceived values and emotions that they experience in the selection? This work proposes an optimization model that can be used to help decision makers select sustainable materials by including all the considerations that arise in the selection process. Cost and design constraints in addition to the environmental requirements specified in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) account for quantitative measures. Qualitative aspects include perceptions of design and construction practitioners in an attempt to include non-measurable information that affects the appraisal of sustainability. A case study of materials selection is presented to illustrate the model and showcase its capability. This work should be useful to designers and construction managers, or anyone else who is considering building sustainable infrastructure.