Multi-criteria analysis for sustainable buildings

Currently climate and housing standards in parallel with the energy savings govern the performance required to buildings. Consequently, innovative multi-functional components try to satisfy both the requirements of structural safety and thermal performance, but the choice of the designer is difficult due to the complexity of this new market. In this paper, the Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) analysis is proposed as suitable methodology that can provide adequate support for choosing the best building components between different alternatives. As case study, TOPSIS method (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) has been applied for comparing four different types of floor. The criteria assumed in the case study are referred to different fields as well as thermal, acoustic, air quality building science, structural performances, economic and human impacts. The case study allows to point out that the optimal solution depends on the importance (weight) that the decision maker assigns to each considered criterion.