Selecting Building Façade Materials by Integrating Stepwise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis and Weighted Aggregated Sum Product Assessment into Value Engineering

Abstract

Building façades represent one of the most critical elements affecting a city’s quality of life, and they impact the country’s economic income by attracting visitors. However, performance data on façades are limited or incomplete, making it challenging for designers to evaluate their effectiveness in energy efficiency, thermal performance, durability, and other key performance metrics. This paper presents a comprehensive framework for evaluating and prioritizing material selection criteria in building cladding, establishing the relationship with available alternatives, and integrating decision-making processes with Building Information Modeling (BIM) to automate the Value Engineering (VE) concept. The material selection criteria from the literature and international standard manual were identified, and their criteria weight was then evaluated using SWARA (stepwise weight assessment ratio analysis). Additionally, WASPAS (weighted aggregated sum product assessment) was utilized to evaluate the alternative cladding materials based on the defined criteria and their associated quality weight (QW). The life cycle cost (LCC) of the alternatives was computed. The VE was computed and then ranked based on the QW and LCC of the alternatives. The procedure was connected to the BIM model to automate the assessment, specifying the necessary parameters and the BIM computation. A case study of an office building façade was conducted to validate the proposed framework. In this study, the significant criteria were durability, wind load resistance, and thermal insulation. This approach enables executives to evaluate cladding selection, ensuring efficient decision-making processes. The proposed method and its results were subjected to expert testing, and the satisfaction rate exceeded 80%, confirming the framework’s reliability in evaluating alternatives. This paper enhances the understanding of material selection methodologies and provides a valuable contribution to the field of construction management.