Embodied carbon meets payback: Stakeholder-driven MCDM for selecting renovation scenarios

Paulius Spudys, Deimante Jarmalaviciute and Egle Klumbyte
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Paulius Spudys: Kaunas University of Technology
Deimante Jarmalaviciute: YIT Lietuva
Egle Klumbyte: Kaunas University of Technology

Transformations and Sustainability, 2025, vol. 1, issue 3, 212-224

Abstract: Ambitious European building sector’s decarbonization goals require significant increase in renovation rates, yet the success of these initiatives relies on aligning technical goals with stakeholder priorities. This study offers a novel perspective by quantitatively comparing how building owners and experts prioritize renovation outcomes using multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) to shed a light on the potential disagreements and barriers in renovation processes. The work carried out includes an assessment of building owners and experts’ perception using pairwise comparisons through the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to determine the relative significance of each criterion to evaluate renovation scenarios via Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) and Multiplicative Exponential Weighting (MEW) methods. Five key criteria (i) improvement lifespan, (ii) payback period, (iii) operational energy demand, (iv) energy saved, and (v) global warming potential (embodied carbon), were defined to capture a holistic performance of renovation alternatives. The results showed a strong disagreement between building owners and experts in prioritising renovation criteria. However, application of MCDM methods allowed to assess and select alternative which provides a matching point for stakeholders. These findings contribute to the field of sustainable architecture and civil engineering by highlighting the importance of stakeholder-inclusive MCDM approaches, thereby enhancing the adoption of deep energy retrofits in line with European Green Deal targets.

Keywords: Building renovation; Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM); experts; building owners; decarbonization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:dbj:trasus:v:1:y:2025:i:3:p:212-224

DOI: 10.63775/3ph1qs36

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