Development of a fuzzy life cycle model for the evaluation of alternative building insulation materials

• Main Author: Guirindola, Agnes G.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2004
• Subjects: Insulation (Heat)—Environmental aspects; Environmental Engineering
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/6852
• Institution: De La Salle University

Material selection in the building and construction (B&C) sector has been traditionally concerned with strength, thermal properties, cost and aesthetical features, yet recently, environmental concerns have been introduced into the list of properties to consider during the planning and design stage of a building. Buildings and its components represent an important research field in the environmentally responsible architecture and this is achieved through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). LCA can be used to support the decision in the selection of environmentally preferable materials. Several LCA-based software for the B&C field have been developed and still growing in number, variety, and visibility, however, there is a need to take into account both the complexities and the uncertainties of this field of application. This is one of the major thrusts of this research in providing for improvements in the LCA methodology. A model, referred to as BUILT, has been developed in this study; utilizing possibilistic theory in the evaluation of uncertainties in data and outcomes. Possibilistic uncertainty propagation (PUP), fuzzy ratio scales, and possibilistic simple additive weighting (SAW) methods were implemented to allow multiple criteria evaluation and ranking of three alternative insulation materials in the presence of data uncertainty. BUILT used the BEES 3.0c environmental inventory and economic data; and introduced a quality or technical performance as one of the evaluation criteria derived from experts’ linguistic appraisal (by ASHRAE and UAF). BUILT’s flexibility in evaluating the alternatives performance is provided for user-defined weight assignments, i.e. either numerical weights or natural language appraisal. The relevance in the context of Philippine B&C sector is represented in the economic aspect and embedded environmental impacts from prescribed transportation expanse. The demonstration prototype is encoded using Microsoft Excel’ spreadsheet and Visual Basic’s windows to permit extensive layering while maintaining ease of browsing, with the intent of accessibility for the layperson (designer) or expert (LCA practitioner). BUILT provides for expediency of B&C LCA decision support tool within the Philippine context with its initial application in ceiling insulation materials. Outputs precise to the model’s decision domain indicate that fiberglass has the lowest impact and improved technical performance. Mineral wool comes a close second, although, cellulose is the unmatched option in terms of economic considerations