Building Material Selection for Resource-Efficiency in the Design Process and Architects’ Approach

Kaynak Etkin Yapı Malzemesi Seçimi

Abstract

Resource efficiency has become a critical issue because of the increased environmental effects and the rapid depletion of natural resources caused by fast build and population growth since the Industrial Revolution. Resource efficiency is defined as the production, processing, and consumption of natural resources sustainably by reducing their negative environmental impacts throughout their life cycle. While minimizing waste generation, resource efficiency also contributes to the circular economy, which aims to preserve their value for as long as possible by returning resources to the material cycle at the end of their use. That the construction sector has a large share in raw material, energy, and water consumption and the generation of waste has increased the environmental impact of buildings throughout their life cycle. Considering that most of the resource consumption of buildings caused by building materials, the selection and use of building materials play a significant role in terms of resource efficiency. In this context, the architectural design phase is effective in reducing environmental impacts. The study aims to evaluate architects’ approaches and awareness, design criteria, barriers, and limitations on the resourceefficiency of building materials in the architectural design process. Within the scope of the study, first, the literature on the resource-efficiency of building materials was analyzed, and twenty-one criteria were developed for building material selection criteria. In line with the literature research, the nine barriers affecting the designer’s selection of resource-efficient building materials were determined as the lack of knowledge of the designer on the relevant subject, cost, lack of customer demand, lack of environmental data and database, availability of the material in the market, lack of awareness, lack of regulations, lack of financial incentives, lack of supervision on resource conservation. A field study was conducted by creating a questionnaire
containing the criteria and barriers through face-to-face interviews or online via “Google Forms” between January and April 2022 for 144 architects in Kocaeli. The questionnaire was prepared based on a 5-point Likert scale for the evaluation of the use frequency and barriers of resource-efficient building material selection criteria. The questionnaires were analyzed using the correlation method, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and t-test with the SPSS program, and the relevance of all parameters was evaluated statistically. The architects who participated in the survey select building materials in their designs, think that material selection is important in resource efficiency, and prefer building materials with long service life, the least unpackaged, less, or ecologically packed building materials. According to the results of the survey and analysis, the gender and professional experience of the architects do not affect the resource-efficient building materials selection and the use frequency during the design phase. However, the education degree affects the material selection. Architects with a doctorate more often prefer building materials produced using renewable natural energy sources and unpackaged, less or ecologically packaged building materials when designing. There is no significant difference in the answers of architects about the barriers affecting their choice of materials according to gender, education level or professional experience. The most affected by the limitations determined by the resource-efficiency strategy of the material is building materials produced using renewable natural energy resources. The designer’s lack of knowledge barrier and availability barrier in the
market are most effective in the building materials selection with low embodied energy. Cost barriers and lack of customer demand are most effective in the building materials selection with good insulation properties. The barrier to environmental data, lack of database and awareness are most effective in the building materials selection produced using renewable natural
energy sources. The lack of regulations is the most effective in the reusable building materials selection, and the lack of financial incentives is most effective in the selection of building materials that are easy to maintain and repair. The lack of control on resource conservation is most effective in the recyclable building materials and certified wooden building materials
selection. It is thought that the study can guide the resource-efficient building materials selection as a result of the determination of the measures taken by the architects for resource-efficiency and the evaluation of the barriers. For further studies; it is suggested that this field study should be carried out for the users and other stakeholders in the building industry.