‘Total Value for Society’ Model

‘Total Value for Society’ Model: Creating a Decision Making Tool for the Selection of Building Designs with the Highest True Lifecycle Value For Society

Bhatia, Satvik (TU Delft Civil Engineering & Geosciences)

Wolfert, A.R.M. (graduation committee)
Jonkers, H.M. (mentor)
Binnekamp, R. (graduation committee)
Huijsmans, Thijs (mentor)

Delft University of Technology

Civil Engineering | Construction Management and Engineering

2021-05-20

The growing need for sustainability and circularity in the construction industry has given rise to the demand for proper sustainability valorisation and evaluation methods. Investors and project owners need sound rationale for their returns on investment made into sustainability – in financial, environmental and social benefits achieved. Promoting sustainable building methods and the use of sustainable products and materials demands a tool that can justify the investment into them. This thesis addresses this challenge and provides a decision making tool that can evaluate and compare the true lifecycle values of construction projects, in order to allow investors and project owners to compare between design options and select the most optimum choice based on their preferences. Thus the model gives a direct relation between the investment and total returns, and acts as a guide for investors on the selection of design and material choices for the needed level of sustainability in their projects. Termed as the “Total Value for Society” model, it uses Multi-criteria Decision Analysis methodology to pick the construction project with the most “true lifecycle value” out of multiple options of the same functional equivalence. The tool is applied to a test case provided by Heijmans. The results of this model are verified and validated through stakeholder interviews. A sensitivity analysis confirms the robustness of the model. An expert review performed using stakeholder interviews validates the usefulness of the model and its impact on the design selection process. The validation shows that the model’s usefulness to owners/investors, contractors and designers indeed matches with their expected uses of the model and fulfills its needs as established by the same stakeholders earlier. Finally, the report concludes by answering to the main development statement - The Total Value for Society Model, by comparing design options based on their lifecycle performances on financial, environmental and social sustainability aspects, and showing the most optimum option for the given preferences on the relative weights of criteria, can enable investors to evaluate and compare the true lifecycle values of construction projects, and doing so, guide their investment decisions. The thesis however is just one step towards rationalising investment decisions regarding sustainable construction, and it further provides new avenues for future research and developments.

Sustainability
Circularity
Circular Economy
Lifecycle Assessment
True Lifecycle Value
Value for Society
LCA
LCCA
SLCA
Multicriteria Decision Analysis
MCA
MCDA
Social Impact
Social Impact Analysis
Preference Function Modeling

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:477192f9-4efe-4023-9374-dfb643b27fef

Student theses

master thesis

© 2021 Satvik Bhatia