Value engineering for defect prevention on building façade

A building façade is affected by the environment as well as the physical performances of the building-materials at every stage of the building's life cycle. Although a number of studies have been conducted to overcome the nonsustainable conditions of building façade, they mostly focus on cost-based design. Accordingly, previous studies did not incorporate critical issues such as the durability of building façade at the design stage; therefore, a process for the selection of optimal façade materials is needed, with a particular consideration of durability, as well as the functional and economic performances of the materials. The aim of this study is therefore the development of the corresponding decision-making process for the selection of façade materials to minimize the potential defects at the design stage. The case study reveals that the priority of the material options for building façade can be changed if minimum 30% weighting of the durability for each option is reflected on the decision-making process. The research contribution here is the incorporation of a value-based decision-making process during the selection of optimal façade materials for sustainability.