A multi-criteria assessment tool to assess the environmental performance of house designs

Abstract

This paper presents the development of a “multi-criteria assessment” tool to assess the environmental performance of house designs. The tool is intended to assist the design process when a number of design alternatives are being explored and tested against different criteria. It is developed to overcome the problems faced when using many other existing tools which require numerous inputs and require a long time to complete the assessments. An example of the use of this tool in assessing the environmental performance of a house design is presented. A number of design alternatives are tested against a reference building using different assessment criteria with different weightings to demonstrate how the criteria and weightings chosen will change the output (assessed performance), and thus vary the judgement which can be made from the results. Although it may sound complicated, the whole assessment process can be done quickly during the design process as the data entry, simulation, and assessment modules are all in one package, eliminating the need to use multiple calculation/simulation tools. This is very important in the design process of small projects such as residential buildings as the time and cost to conduct the assessment are significantly reduced.