AHP-based sustainability evaluation of global nanomaterial-enhanced residential buildings using regionally weighted criteria from Egyptian experts

The rapid global urbanisation and the construction sector's critical environmental footprint necessitate innovative, sustainable solutions, with nanotechnology emerging as a key enabler. Despite this potential, current research lacked a holistic, systematic evaluation framework for nanomaterial-enhanced residential buildings that integrated the specific regional priorities of developing nations. This study addressed this knowledge gap by developing and applying a four-dimensional assessment model (environmental, economic, technical, and social) using the analytic hierarchy process. The model weights were derived from 55 Egyptian experts in architecture and sustainability, ensuring the results reflect crucial regional demands. The analysis revealed that the Environmental Criterion was deemed the most critical dimension, receiving the highest weight (0.3427), closely followed by the Economic Criterion (0.2774). The Technical Criterion ranked third (0.2337), while the Social Criterion was the least influential (0.1462). This priority setting confirmed that Operational Energy Cost Reduction (0.0916) and Maintenance Cost Reduction (0.0820) are the most decisive factors for sustainable performance in the regional context. The model was applied to four global case studies to determine their sustainable performance and ranking. The Sur Falveng building Phase Change Material Glass came in first place with a score of (73.85%) due to its comprehensive and balanced performance. The Seitzstrasse building Vacuum Insulation Panels followed in second place (71.51%). The Strucksbarg housing complex featuring self-cleaning Lotus-Effect paint ranked third (68.28%). Conversely, the Escala Condominiums tower utilising nano microcomposite rebar ranked last (57.86%), confirming that structural applications received lower overall priority as they did not directly contribute to the dominant operational metrics. This research provided a practical, evidence-based tool for architects and policymakers, highlighting the necessity of aligning nanotechnology selection with regional evaluation frameworks to guide future sustainable design decisions in emerging markets