Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Methods Applied to Achieve Sustainable Design: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Sustainability is an issue concerned with social, economic and environmental problems. The primary aim of sustainability is to fulfil the needs of the present society without compromising potential needs of future generations. Product design has a significant impact on sustainability, and a sensible decision-making process that considers trade-offs at early design stage is critical to the success of product design that addresses environmental sustainability issues. This study aims to identify and review the decision-making process for environmentally sustainable design. A comprehensive literature review has been performed to establish the trends over the past two decades. The decision-making process for sustainable design has been summarised, and the frequently-used decision-making methods, such as ANP/AHP, TOPSIS, and BWM, have been identified and discussed. A framework for the selection of Multi-criteria Decision-making (MCDM) methods has been developed to aid researchers to select appropriate MCDM methods in sustainable design. In addition, future research opportunities have also been identified.