Selection of the Optimum Material for Prefabricated Structures by AHP

The construction sector is known as the least digitalized sector after the hunting and agriculture sectors among 22 sectors. The beginning of the industrialization process in the construction sector has entered our lives with prefabrication. Prefabricated systems accelerate the construction process and enable faster production. The emerging prefabricated construction technology contributes to faster, easier, and more cost-effective construction of buildings. Today, interest and demand for prefabricated structures have increased. Multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) is a method that helps to determine the best choice by evaluating various criteria together. The use of AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process), which is one of the MCDM methods, is frequently preferred in solving multi-criteria decision-making problems. Within the scope of the article; it is aimed to be an interdisciplinary study by evaluating prefabricated structures, which are accepted as the beginning of industrialization in the construction sector, and MCDM methods together. In this article, alternative materials used in prefabricated building systems and sub-criteria affecting the materials were analyzed. AHP was used as the methodology in the study and the selection of the optimum material for prefabricated structures was carried out. In order to apply the method, appropriate criteria were determined and then the criteria were scored by experts in the field. Then, the values of 3 types of materials (alternatives) for prefabricated buildings were determined. After the AHP method was applied, it was found that the optimum material among the alternatives was steel.