The development of an environmental decision making system---life cycle based---for planning an EMS

The primary objective of this work was the creation of a methodology called Environmental Decision Making System. This methodology not only considers the environmental aspect but also integrates the social and economic aspects for the developing or improvement of a facility or construction project. It allows to compare and to select to the best alternative using an indicator, called Benefits Module, which combines the three aspects in a single value. In order to achieve this, Streamlined Life Cycle Analysis was used for the evaluation of the environmental aspect and the Analytical Hierarchy Process was used for the integration and analysis of the three different aspects. A case of study was performed using the methodology to compare the new and the old swimming pool of the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. The resulting indicator suggests that the new swimming pool is slightly superior to the old one.