Assessment of building performance indicators using fuzzy DEMATEL approach: Comparing early-career and mid-expert perspectives

Assessing building energy performance necessitates a systematic methodology to identify and evaluate critical variables affecting overall performance. This research applies the Fuzzy DEMATEL multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) technique to examine the interrelationships and influence of energy, structure, systems, usage, and outdoor urban environment on building efficiency. A survey was distributed to 49 practitioners in fields such as engineering, academia, and research, categorized into early-career and mid-expert groups based on their years of experience. The approach involved evaluating and classifying 26 sub-indicators under five main sub-criteria by their significance and net influence as central, impactful, determinant, or independent variables. Sensitivity analysis was conducted to explore how weight changes affect global performance, identifying variables with high influence on energy efficiency. Additionally, subjective weighting measured perceived importance, producing a ranked framework for performance evaluation. Results show that systems (24.47 %) and energy (23.85 %) are the most significant sub-criteria for mid-experts, while usage (14.24 %) and outdoor environment (14.29 %) are the least emphasized. Mid-expert practitioners focus on systemic and structural efficiency, whereas early-career professionals adopt a broader but less targeted view. This methodology offers a structured and standardized framework, supporting more accurate, balanced, and data-informed evaluations, particularly valuable during on-site energy assessments. The study offers practical outcomes for developing expertise-sensitive assessment tools and informing design priorities by aligning performance evaluations with practitioner experience.