An Integrated Fuzzy-Based Sustainability Framework for Post-Secondary Educational Buildings: A User-Perspective Approach

Ghasan Alfalah, Abobakr Al-Sakkaf (), Eslam Mohammed Abdelkader and Tarek Zayed
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Ghasan Alfalah: Department of Architecture and Building Science, College of Architecture and Planning, King Saud University, Riyadh 145111, Saudi Arabia
Abobakr Al-Sakkaf: Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University, Montréal, QC H3G 1M8, Canada
Eslam Mohammed Abdelkader: Structural Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University, Giza 12613, Egypt
Tarek Zayed: Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE), Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE), The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, ZN716 Block Z Phase 8 Hung Hom, Kowloon 999077, Hong Kong

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 16, 1-26

Abstract: Decreasing the impact of educational buildings on the environment is a primary concern of the sustainable building movement. However, limited research has centered on improving educational building sustainability from users’ perspectives. This study aims to determine an overall user perspective satisfaction scale (OUPS) for post-secondary educational buildings, determine the factors and sub-factors that affect users’ perspectives, and create a building sustainability platform for evaluating user satisfaction. The main goal of the developed model is to offer facility managers the current users’ perspectives on post-secondary educational buildings to improve sustainability from users’ perspectives. The results revealed a significant influence of thermal comfort (40%) and aesthetics (22%) on users’ perspectives. The developed model was validated by experts working in the facility management field and they acknowledged it as having good potential. This work first utilized the Fuzzy Analytic Network Process (FANP) modelling technique to determine weights for each factor and sub-factor and then employed the fuzzy expert system to develop an OUPS. Questionnaire responses and interviews with facility managers and users were used to develop these models for a case study of the M.B. building at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec.

Keywords: user perspective; post-secondary educational buildings; building sustainability; fuzzy analytical network process; facility management; fuzzy expert system (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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