Design of a thermal hotel based on AHP-QFD methodology

Abstract

The aim of this investigation was to help select design criteria that highlight customer satisfaction, and thus improve the design quality in buildings, specifically in a building of a thermal hotel. The methodology is based on applying the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) technique to listen to the voice of the customer, in addition to the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), which allows selection of the best design alternative. The literature shows that QFD–AHP methods have been tried in different areas of the building industry, but there are few examples of combining building design processes. In the study process, collaboration environments between stakeholders were established and the operability of the method used was tested with real actors. The matrix solutions realised in the horizontal and vertical sections of the framework of the model can be reused in different projects with different user demands. This added a modular and developable feature to the model. This study revealed that the most important customer needs, in order of importance, are “health”, “service”, “comfort”, and “functionality”. These are followed by “accessibility”, “aesthetics”, and “energy conservation”. According to the findings, QFD was shown to be an appropriate method for transferring customer (occupant) requirements to designs in the most accurate manner, given the complex structure of thermal hotel buildings.