An holistic approach to product evaluation and selection in industrialised building: Benchmarking of long span, low carbon floor systems

Abstract

As the construction industry shifts towards more systematised methods of designing and delivering buildings, data-informed approaches towards product development, evaluation, and selection promise to enable improved performance (structural, acoustic, fire, environmental), material efficiencies, and ease of production while maintaining the highest quality end result. This paper presents the outcomes of an applied research project that takes the first steps towards the development of a framework to guide holistic evaluation of product performance and future design efforts. Key outcomes of the research include: a systems matrix approach to (1) map the current product landscape, (2) select representative systems for benchmarking, and (3) to communicate relative performance; and a decision matrix used to illustrate the effect of varying priorities when selecting products for use in a building project.