Sustainability of Structural Materials

Structural materials are core to application in construction and the key to achieve more sustainable construction development. One of the approaches that can allow engineers to build structures more sustainable is the sustainable selection of materials. This book develops a methodology for evaluation and selection of structural materials on a sustainability basis using a multi-criteria decision analysis. The Book establishes a Sustainable Scoring System to assess the sustainability characteristics of the structural materials. This system is designed to be integrated into a developed Multi-Attribute Decision Making approach to rank and select the materials based on the identified sustainability criteria over their total life. Finally, a computerized Sustainable Decision Support System is structured to link and automate the process. It links the material's sustainability with the design of the structural element, defines it through the consideration of its total life, and provides the material's sustainable rank as well as its sustainability degree.