Tatari, O and Kucukvar, M (2012) Eco-efficiency of construction materials: Data envelopment analysis. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 138(6), pp. 733-741. ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
Sustainability assessment tools are critical in the process of achieving sustainable development. Eco-efficiency has emerged as a practical concept that combines environmental and economic performance indicators to measure the sustainability performance of different product alternatives. In this paper, an analytical tool that can be used to assess the eco-efficiency of construction materials is developed. This tool evaluates the eco-efficiency of construction materials by using data envelopment analysis, a linear programming-based mathematical approach. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) and life-cycle cost (LCC) are utilized to derive the eco-efficiency ratios, and data envelopment analysis (DEA) is used to rank material alternatives. Developed mathematical models are assessed by selecting the most eco-efficient exterior wall finish for a building. Percent improvement analysis was carried out to investigate target environmental effect categories that need more reduction to reach 100% eco-efficiency. Through this study, the goal is to show that DEA-based eco-efficiency assessment model could be used to evaluate alternative construction materials and offer vital guidance for decision makers during material selection.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | data envelopment analysis; eco-efficiency; linear programming; sustainable development |
| Index terms: | environmental effect, data envelopment analysis, construction material, sustainability performance, linear programming, eco-efficiency, sustainable development, mathematical model, sustainability assessment, performance indicator |
| Subjects: | sustainability assessment, algorithms, performance management, health safety and environment, mathematical modelling, environmental impact, building materials, data analysis and analytics |
| Topics: | Health and Safety, Engineering Principles, Research Practice, Sustainability, Digital Applications, Quality Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here