A composite index for enhancing sustainability within public housing projects in Libya

The attention on sustainable homes is driven by the desire to use more environmentally friendly products, that are aligned with sustainable technologies and which improve the health and wellbeing of the occupants, whilst attributing to the reduction of house building costs over a life cycle. It is widely acknowledged that sustainable homes should satisfy the overarching principles of sustainability, fitting in with the local influences of the regional specialities they are built in. The ambition of the Libyan government for imbedding sustainability within the construction industry could benefit greatly from such a rigorous set of sustainability ssessment-based criteria that aid to design, evaluate and monitor the desired development. The aim of this study is to develop a sustainability-based index of multi-criterion to assist Libyan public home projects in addressing sustainability issues in their activities and strategies. It is argued that well-known sustainable assessment methods are not designed to be used in various countries including Libya. Therefore, this study seeks to investigate the appropriateness of using these methods to integrate their commonalities and establish a new scheme of building sustainability-based criteria for the Libyan context. To achieve the aim of this study a variety of research methods and techniques within a triangulated approach have been adopted. These included (1) a focus group interview; (2) a wide questionnaire survey; and the (3) Analytical Hierarchy Process Method (AHP). The components of the developed model were derived from a thorough analysis of data collection obtained from a variety of sources including practitioners and professionals from contractors, the Libyan government, industry, and academia. A triangulation approach has been utilised within and across the methods and techniques adopted. It has facilitated access to different levels of reality, through the combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. The sustainability-based index that has been developed through this research is composed of 43 criteria, grouped into 7 main categories. Water efficiency ranked at the top with 32 credits, reflecting Libyan crisis due to water scarcity. Whilst Libya has alternative and abundant natural energy resources (i.e. so-lar energy, wend, etc.). This has made energy efficiency issues at the second highest priority (24 credits), which can encourage the adoption of more sustainable, renewable energy resources. Fundamentally, it provides a clear vision of what needs to be addressed and what would enable the achievement of sustainable homes in Libya. Validation has been conducted through a review of the results obtained on the journey of this research. Utilising a group of local and international experts, who have been selected based on their knowledge in sustainable housing and the construction profession, thus providing the basis for a more successful formula and a final model of sustainable housing for the Libyan context. The contribution of this study to the existing body of knowledge is threefold: (i) academic, through addressing significant research questions that have not been addressed before and providing an evidential base of the findings; (ii) procedural, through the development of a comprehensive model to assist Libyan home projects in better addressing sustainability aspects in their activities and strategies; and (iii) methodological, through the use of triangulation, which construction management research haS been reluctant to use in the past, and through the provision of a comprehensive review, successful application and a clear demonstration of the use of focus group interviews and questionnaire methods.