Assessing Eco-Efficiency of Building Materials Using Type-2 Fuzzy AHP–TOPSIS Framework

Authors

  • Yogeesh Nijalingappa

    Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, SR University, Warangal 506371, India

    Department of Mathematics, Government First Grade College, Tumkur 572102, India
  • Markala Karthik

    Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, SR University, Warangal 506371, India
  • Asokan Vasudevan

    Faculty of Business and Communications, INTI International University, Nilai 71800, Malaysia

    Faculty of Management, Shinawatra University, Samkhok 12160, Thailand

    Business Administration and Management, Wekerle Business School, 1083 Budapest, Hungary
  • Suleiman Ibrahim Mohammad

    Faculty of Business and Communications, INTI International University, Nilai 71800, Malaysia

    Business Administration Department, Business School, Al al-Bayt University, Mafraq 25113, Jordan
  • Siddalingaswamy R.

    Department of Mathematics, Government First Grade College, Tumkur 572102, India
  • Mayibongwe Tafara Mudzengi

    International Relations and Collaborations Centre (IRCC), INTI International University, Nilai 71800, Malaysia
  • Anber Abraheem Mohammad

    Digital Marketing Department, Faculty of Administrative and Financial Sciences, University of Petra, Amman 11196, Jordan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/jbms.v8i2.12600
Received: 29 October 2025 | Revised: 30 December 2025 | Accepted: 12 January 2026 | Published Online: 8 April 2026

Abstract

The construction sector urgently needs methods to identify building materials that are both structurally reliable and environmentally efficient. This paper addresses the scientific issue of eco-efficiency assessment under deep uncertainty in life cycle, cost, and performance data for structural concretes. The research objective is to develop a robust decision-support framework that can rank conventional and low-carbon concretes when expert judgements are imprecise, and environmental indicators vary across contexts. To this end, we propose an interval Type-2 fuzzy AHP–TOPSIS model in which criteria weights and material performances are represented as interval Type-2 triangular fuzzy numbers, with Karnik Mendel centroid type-reduction used to obtain weight intervals and type-reduced decision entries. An eco-efficiency index based on normalized life-cycle assessment indicators (GWP, CED, AP), cost, compressive strength, and service life is used as an external validation target. The framework is demonstrated on a detailed case study comparing OPC, PPC, GGBS, recycled-aggregate, fly-ash, and geopolymer concretes. Results show that geopolymer concrete is consistently the most eco-efficient option and OPC the least, with strong rank concordance between Type-2 TOPSIS closeness coefficients and the eco-efficiency index, and stable top/bottom rankings underweight-band and joint weight-FOU perturbations. Compared with crisp and Type-1 fuzzy AHP-TOPSIS approaches, the proposed model uniquely offers a coherent end-to-end Type-2 pipeline, preserves the footprint of uncertainty in both weighting and ranking, and provides clearer robustness diagnostics for eco-efficiency-oriented material selection.

Keywords:

Eco-Efficiency; Sustainable Concrete; Building Materials Selection; Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Sets; AHP (Analytical Hierarchy Process); TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution); Karnik-Mendel Type-Reduction; Life-Cycle Assessment

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How to Cite

Nijalingappa, Y., Karthik, M., Vasudevan, A., Mohammad, S. I., R., S., Mudzengi, M. T., & Mohammad, A. A. (2026). Assessing Eco-Efficiency of Building Materials Using Type-2 Fuzzy AHP–TOPSIS Framework. Journal of Building Material Science, 8(2), 23–40. https://doi.org/10.30564/jbms.v8i2.12600

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Vol. 8, Iss. 2 (June 2026): in progress

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Copyright © 2026 Yogeesh Nijalingappa, Markala Karthik, Asokan Vasudevan, Suleiman Ibrahim Mohammad, Siddalingaswamy R., Mayibongwe Tafara Mudzengi, Anber Abraheem Mohammad

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This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.

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