REVIEW OF KEY CRITERIA FOR SUSTAINABLE BUILDING MATERIALS

Abstract

Over the past decade, sustainable building materials (SBM) have increasingly been gained the interests from construction industries, leading to numerous studies that have been conducted to find out the criteria for evaluating the effectiveness and sustainability of such kinds of materials. Despite this growing interest, a systematic review of the key sustainability criteria used to select building materials, which is crucial for guiding future research and practical applications, is possibly still lacking. Thus, this article presents a literature review on sustainability criteria for building material selections for engineering designs and practices. This study employed a systematic literature review (SLR) method, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Data were extracted from the Scopus database, comprising 27 impactful peer-reviewed publications related to the selection of SBM criteria from 2015 to 2024. The review identified and synthesized four key criteria: environmental, economic, social, and technical. A model framework was also developed to understand these sustainability criteria better. The findings could enhance the understanding of critical sustainability considerations, assisting industry practitioners, policymakers, and sustainability-focused institutions in formulating more informed guidelines and strategies for sustainable material selection. Furthermore, the checklist and model framework presented in this article may offer valuable resources for researchers conducting further empirical studies in sustainable construction.