Product-cost modelling approach for the development of a decision support system for optimal roofing material selection

Selection of optimal roofing materials is very important but it is a complex and onerous task as varieties of materials are available for housing roof construction. In order to select suitable materials, an extensive range of criteria would need to be considered. This paper presents the framework and the development of a knowledge-based decision support system for material selection implemented in roofing material selection domain, called 'Knowledge-based Decision Support system for roofing Material Selection and cost estimating' (KDSMS). It was developed to facilitate the selection of optimal materials for different roof sub elements. The system consists of a database and knowledge base that is equipped with an inference engine. The former is used to store different types of roofing materials with assigned attribute values. The later is used to hold qualitative and quantitative knowledge which were collected from domain experts and other technical literatures such as building regulations, price guide book and product catalogues. The proposed system employs the TOPSIS (Technique of ranking Preferences by Similarity to the Ideal Solution) multiple criteria decision making method to solve materials selection and optimisation problem. This study utilised the available roofing materials in the UK housing market in developing the system reported. The main contribution of the developed system is that it provides a tool for the architects, quantity surveyors or self house builder to select optimal materials from a wide array of possibilities for different roof sub elements and also to estimate the conceptual cost for the roof element in the early stage of building design.

[1]  Yaxin Bi,et al.  A knowledge-based decision support system for roofing materials selection , 2009 .

[2]  David Cebon,et al.  Selection strategies for materials and processes , 2002 .

[3]  Ching-Lai Hwang,et al.  Multiple Attribute Decision Making: Methods and Applications - A State-of-the-Art Survey , 1981, Lecture Notes in Economics and Mathematical Systems.

[4]  T. Mexia,et al.  Author ' s personal copy , 2009 .

[5]  Maja Strbac,et al.  ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE EVALUATION , 2008 .

[6]  Ali Shanian,et al.  TOPSIS multiple-criteria decision support analysis for material selection of metallic bipolar plates for polymer electrolyte fuel cell , 2006 .

[7]  G. Soronis.  An approach to the selection of roofing materials for durability , 1992 .

[8]  Heng Li,et al.  Application of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) in multi-criteria analysis of the selection of intelligent building systems , 2008 .

[9]  Thomas K. L. Tong,et al.  Multi-criteria material selections and end-of-life product strategy: Grey relational analysis approach , 2007 .

[10]  Tahir Çelik,et al.  An integrated knowledge-based system for alternative design and materials selection and cost estimating , 1998 .

[11]  Yaxin Bi,et al.  A Conceptual Knowledge-Based Cost Model for Optimizing the Selection of Materials and Technology for Building Design , 2008 .

[12]  Mostafa Aref,et al.  An expert system for evaluation and selection of floor finishing materials , 1996 .

[13]  Tom Woolley,et al.  Natural Building: A Guide to Materials and Techniques , 2006 .

[14]  C. Hwang.  Multiple Objective Decision Making - Methods and Applications: A State-of-the-Art Survey , 1979 .

[15]  Jeffrey L. Anderson,et al.  Green Guide to Specification , 2009 .

[16]  Belfield and Everest Davis.  Spon's Architects' and Builders' Price Book , 1991 .

[17]  David E. Shiers,et al.  The Green Guide to Specification: An Environmental Profiling System for Building Materials and Components , 2002 .

[18]  Agis M. Papadopoulos,et al.  Environmental performance evaluation of thermal insulation materials and its impact on the building , 2007 .

[19]  R. S. Perera,et al.  COST MODELLING FOR ROOFING MATERIAL SELECTION , 2006 .

[20]  Yaxin Bi,et al.  A Knowledge-Based Decision Support System for Roofing Materials Selection and Cost Estimating: A Conceptual Framework and Data Modelling , 2009 .

[21]  Stephanie Thomas,et al.  Ecohouse: A Design Guide , 2001 .

[22]  Deng Yong.  Plant location selection based on fuzzy TOPSIS , 2006 .

[23]  Jahau Lewis Chen,et al.  An intelligent data base system for composite material selection in structural design , 1995 .

[24]  Hans-Jörg Bullinger,et al.  Knowledge-based system for material selection for design with new materials , 1991, Knowl. Based Syst..

[25]  Alexis Karolides.  Green Building Approaches , 2014 .

[26]  Guo H. Huang,et al.  Development of an intelligent decision support system for air pollution control at coal-fired power plants , 2004, Expert Syst. Appl..