A model proposal for building material selection for residential buildings with analytical hierarchy process

The decisions to be taken in the creation of the buildings where we spend most of our lives play a critical role in creating environmental conditions that will meet the basic vital requirements for the user. Therefore, each decision to be taken during the design phase enables the problems that may be encountered during the implementation phase to be identified and intervened in advance. The choice of building material is one of the important steps that affect human life, the natural/built environment and the entire building production process. Any wrong decision to be made in material selection can cause negative effects on the natural or built environment and all possible negative consequences can be minimized by correct building material selection decisions. According to this explanation, it is necessary to know the physical, chemical and biological properties of building materials and the performance of the structure after production; and to select the appropriate material by analyzing and evaluating in line with these criteria. The performance of residential buildings, which constitute the largest share of the entire building stock in the world, is extremely important as it will directly affect parameters such as sustainability, energy consumption and economy. Therefore, "choosing the right building material for residential buildings" becomes much more important when high performance building design is targeted. The inadequacy/limitation of traditional methods for making the right choice among the many material options produced with the developing technology reveals the necessity of tools with a systematic perspective that can guide the designer. In order to increase the performance level expected from the building, a systematic way that can hierarchically rank, compare, evaluate and quantify the results of the criteria determined for the selection of appropriate materials should be followed during the design phase. It is foreseen that the appropriate material can be selected from a large number of material alternatives through the model to be created for the solution of the "material selection in housing" problem, which requires a decision-making process through the "Analytic Hierarchy Process", which is a multi-criteria decision-making method used in solving complex problems with more than one evaluation criterion. Within the scope of the thesis study, the data obtained as a result of a preparatory study including a literature review and basic research on the research problem and the main concepts are used to create a general framework to be used in the solution of the problem in question and in the process of creating the model. In accordance with the purpose and scope of the study, a systematic path is followed that includes mathematical calculations through the "Analytic Hierarchy Process", one of the multi-criteria decision-making methods. Within the scope of the main purpose of the proposed model, the most suitable material for the ideal solution selected through the criteria and sub-criteria determined by evaluating the material alternatives used in residential buildings, the results obtained over the sample are analyzed and evaluated and recommendations are presented. It is thought that the proposed model can strengthen this field by bringing it to the literature and can be a pioneering source for studies to be carried out in this field. In the introduction part of the thesis, the definition of the research problem and information about the problem are given and summarized by reviewing the literature on the solution of this problem. In addition, the purpose, scope and methodology of the thesis are explained. In the first part of the study, the basic concepts of Decision Theory, which form the basis of the proposed model, are mentioned. Literature on the "Decision Theory", which will guide the rest of the study, is presented and the importance of the concepts of decision and decision making is emphasized. In the second part of the study, the concept of "Multi-Criteria Decision Making", which forms the basis of the model proposal, is examined. The main characteristics of Multi-Criteria Decision Making problems, their basic components and the steps of the Multi-Criteria Decision Making process are explained. The methods used in solving Multi-Criteria Decision Making problems are discussed. In the third part of the study, the "Analytic Hierarchy Process" method, which forms the basis of the model proposal and is one of the multi-criteria decision making methods, is examined. The main features, basic components, usage areas and application steps of the Analytic Hierarchy Process method are explained. In the fourth part of the study, the relationship between the built environment and housing, the building production process and the building materials involved in the building production process are examined. Material selection approaches that contribute to the formation of a model for the selection of building materials in housing are examined. In the fifth part of the study, in line with the conceptual-theoretical framework, a systematic model is proposed using the Analytic Hierarchy Process method for the selection of appropriate building materials to ensure high performance in housing, which constitutes the largest share of the entire building stock. The general structure and implementation steps of the proposed "Analytic Hierarchy Process Model for Residential Building Material Selection" are explained. In the sixth part of the study, in order to test the applicability of the proposed model, the selection of wall body material in residential buildings is defined as an example decision-making problem, and how the application steps of the model work and the solution is produced is demonstrated on this problem. In the conclusion, the importance of the model proposal for architecture and its potential contributions to the field of architecture are emphasized.