Abstract
Abstract
Taiwan has a unique subtropical island climate. In the development of a green building material (GBM) evaluation system for Taiwan, evaluation criteria should differ from those in the frigid or temperate zones of the world. We aimed to provide academia and industry with an appropriate GBM evaluation method and to enhance the effectiveness of GBM. It means GBM should be concerned with creating more value with less impact to achieve “eco-efficiency”. Eco-efficiency is the balance of competitively priced goods and services that satisfy human needs and quality of life, while progressively reducing ecological impacts and resource intensity throughout the life-cycle within the Earth's estimated carrying capacity. We applied this method (eco-efficiency=quality/load) to comprehensively consider the efficiency of GBM. The first step was to review the literature to summarize GBM evaluation factors. Second, we conducted a two-stage survey by the fuzzy Delphi method to analyze the evaluation indicators' eco-efficiency dimension (quality or load) and the importance of evaluation factors for establishing the GBM Eco-Efficiency Evaluation System. Third, we analyzed the priority vector of the evaluation indicators by an analytic hierarchy process method before finally achieving the goal of constructing the GBM Eco-Efficiency Model. The achievement was the creation of the Taiwan GBM Eco-Efficiency Evaluation System and the GBM Eco-Efficiency Model. For academia, industry, and users, it could lead to the enhancement of GBM quality as well as provide feedback to modify the process in advance, reduce adverse environmental loads, and minimize the negative impact on the global environment. This method responds positively to human health and global sustainable development.
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