Alexandria Engineering Journal (2023) 76, 735–746

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Alexandria University

Alexandria Engineering Journal

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Value engineering: Case study of Libyan

educational buildings
Medhat Youssef a,*, Salah M. Hussein AlDeep b, Mahmoud Malek Olwan c

a
Construction Engineering and Utilities Dept., Faculty of Engineering, Zagazig University, Egypt
b
Libyan Academy for Postgraduate Studies, Misrata, Libya
c
Dept. of Civil Engineering, Higher Technological Institute, 10th of Ramadan City, Egypt

Received 7 December 2022; revised 23 May 2023; accepted 21 June 2023

Available online 28 June 2023

KEYWORDS Abstract The Libyan Government decided to build 1,500 schools in the reconstruction plan. Lib-
Value engineering; yan Construction Industry (LCI) suffers from projects’ poor value. So, effective management of
Optimum value; resources is crucial. LCI should adopt cost-optimizing tools. This study applied value engineering
Cost saving (VE) to School Model 15 at Al-Khums City to maximize the utilization of the available budget. The
saving of the significant items ranged between 20% and 30% leading to cost reduction in the overall
project. The study concluded that Educational Facilities Authority (EFA) could save about 30% of
the assigned funds. This result encourages the EFA to create a VE department in its organization.
Ó 2023 THE AUTHORS. Published by Elsevier BV on behalf of Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria
University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction the project process among all design and construction stages
represents successful delivery. Effective use of project
The World Bank considered Libya’s Upper Middle Income management tools such as value management is required
Economy’, energy sector revenues coupled with a small pop- [11]. Economic problems are created from the misuse of
ulation. So, Libya is one of Africa’s highest countries per available resources. So, Having better control of resources
capita GDPs [16]. However, the Libyan construction indus- leads to a more efficient economy. The construction industry
try and its processes have a weak return value and are con- consumes many types of materials, which need tools to con-
strained by many barriers and issues. According to many trol them effectively to gain the best value by focusing on
Libyan authors, the Libyan Construction Industry suffers the required function analysis [33]. An empirical study about
from problems such as project delays, overrun costs, and construction materials in Libya showed that materials suffer
unaccomplished project objectives. i.e. weak value [5,23]; from high shortages and fluctuation in price due to external
and [28]. The construction project’s main success criterion and internal problems [1]. The Libyan construction industry
is the facility value to the agency over time. So, integrating will expand as the reconstruction phase begins after the cri-
sis ends. So, the need for value engineering application prac-
tices will increase [35]. So, to face the reconstruction stage
* Corresponding author.
challenges, Libyan government agencies should increasingly
E-mail address: [email protected] (M. Youssef).
depend upon better management practices. The previous
Peer review under responsibility of Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria
practices need to be reoriented and look for innovative ways
University.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2023.06.078
1110-0168 Ó 2023 THE AUTHORS. Published by Elsevier BV on behalf of Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
736 M. Youssef et al.

to cut costs and improve quality. In this perspective, when VE evolution was documented by some early writers
the directorial concept is value, the role of value engineering [14,17,37,3,25,27]. Initially, VE dominated American thinking
VE regarding cost minimization and control techniques and diversified internationally from the 1960s onwards in
becomes vital. Japan, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada. Society
Educational building construction represents a high per- of American Value Engineers (SAVE) was formed in 1959 as
centage of this industry. In this era, factors such as materials a professional technical society to consolidate technology
price fluctuation, labor wages, energy costs, and inflation rate and promote the profession’s growth. SAVE remains the hub
require the responsible agency in Libya to seek a way to of value engineering activities focus until now [26,29]. In
improve the value, conserve available resources, and make 1966, The UK Value Engineering Association was established.
money stretch to achieve the required construction and main- Value management evolved in the UK construction industry in
tenance plan. Over the past half-century, VE has emerged as the late 1980s [10]. Then in 1972, its name was changed to
an effective tool for managing project time, costs, and quality ‘‘Institute of value management.” After that, the Hong Kong
while maximizing value [32]. Agencies with VE can improve Institute of value management and the Institute of Value Man-
functionality, minimize cost, and raise their product value agement Australia were established. Then, perspectives devel-
index [24]. Agencies have recently started using new contract- oped with the introduction of VM into the construction
ing methods, which have placed increasing pressure on industry during the 1980s and the 1990s [13,15]. Currently,
decision-makers in the construction industry to search for an VE is used widely in the US and UK construction industries.
optimal resource utilization plan that minimizes construction Also, China has begun to utilize the VE methodologies.
cost and time while maximizing its quality [39]. Developing During the 1960s and the 1970s, several other governmental
countries with a shortage of appropriate infrastructure and agencies in the U.S.A. adopted Value Engineering, including
buildings, especially Libya in the reconstruction phase, require the Bureau of Reclamation, the National Aeronautics and
effective and efficient management tools to manage available Space Administration (NASA), the Department of Trans-
resources [6]. The crises in Libya destroyed a significant num- portation, and the Public Building Service of the General
ber of infrastructures. Reconstructions of the destroyed infras- Service Administration (GSA). The Federal Highway
tructure are initiated [7]. The Libyan Reconstruction phase Administration (FHWA) in the U.S. became involved with
entails using new techniques utilizing advanced technology to the VE process in 1970. The Federal Aid Highway Act added
cost control throughout the project’s life cycle from the begin- section 106(d) to title 23. to connect any proposed project sub-
ning of the initial design until project delivery. mission to the federal aid system with VE or other cost reduc-
As a result of the lack of research on the concept of VE and tion techniques. Also, add VE incentive clauses in construction
its application importance in developing countries, especially contracts. The Japanese introduced VE in 1970 through the
Libya, VE program adoption requires better understanding auspices of the Institute of Business and Management Tokyo.
and support from various stakeholders in the Libyan construc- According to [31], he began VE studies in Japan in 1967. He
tion industry. This study aims to Optimize the Libyan educa- studied 275 projects, including 142 successful VE studies, 29
tional buildings’ value by reducing the project’s cost using partially successful studies, 67 failed ones, and 29 projects with
VE, considering the multi-criteria required for project Perfor- inadequate data from 1975 to 1991. For many years in differ-
mance, construction time, project Quality, maintenance cost, ent countries in Europe and North America, VE has been used
and Constructability. Value Engineering is the cost optimiza- to improve highway projects. Its application during the con-
tion technique that preserves or even increases the perfor- struction in the form of Value Engineering Change Proposals
mance of the owners. VE considers the function of the (VECP) was to reduce overall construction costs. Many trans-
element as a base for alternative cost comparison analysis as portation agencies now recognize the benefits of applying VE
it uses a function-oriented approach. This study was concerned in the project at an earlier phase.
with VE application on Libyan educational buildings through Some schools distinguish between VE, Value Management
a case study. The Educational buildings are classified as differ- (VM), and Value Analysis (VA), but SAVE considers the
ent models. In this study, the case study model was 15, which terms synonymous. Whatever has used the title, the same job
was a study to get the optimum value with cost savings for the plan and techniques are to achieve similar aims. SAVE defines
school building during the project construction phase. VE as a systematic in-depth process analysis of the relationship
between project functions and costs conducted by a multidisci-
plinary team to raise the project value [22,30]. So, (Value =
2. Literature review Function/Cost) by reducing costs and meeting the required
project functions, the achieved value will maximize. Some
2.1 Value engineering origin, definition and applications authors think Value management is about getting the right
In the middle of World War II, Lawrence Miles needed to project, while value engineering is about getting the project
find a substitute for a Material due to its shortage. Miles found right [38]. The author says that VE is used to do the right pro-
another material that provided the same benefits at a lower ject and the project right, especially in VE application into the
cost which was the beginning of value engineering. Since then, project’s initial phase.
the idea of Value engineering spreading widely and interested VE can be used to establish project scope, support effective
the media, such as the wall street journal. The federal govern- decision-making, and increase project performance and qual-
ment started encouraging all states to use the concept of value ity. VE creates monetary value with the lowest cost, reliability,
engineering in their projects. The uses of value engineering and quality. In 1995, a report stated that the number of states
were monitored periodically by reports demonstrating the effi- that use value engineering programs is relatively low. So the
cacy of the VE program in each state. federal government started making legislation that linked the
Projects’ federal financial aid to the efficacy of the value engi-
Value engineering: Case study of Libyan educational buildings 737

neering program of the state applied for the aiding. The result time, costs, quality, and safety, and minimizing environmental
of this led to a noticed increase in the application and practice impacts [36].
of value engineering, which increased cost savings by up to 100 In 2011, There was a study applying VE in the public ser-
$ and the return on investment by up to 35%. Rate on invest- vice sector, namely, Greeted Amman Municipality, to investi-
ment ROI was 118:1, 96:1, 80:1, 146:1, and 99:1 in FY 13, 12, gate the cost optimization possibility in the environment
11, 10, and 9, respectively [20]. Minnesota Department of protection in Abu Naseer, which represents the highest expen-
Transportation report for ROI in FY 018 was 88:1. Virginia diture from its budget [2]. The results decrease the cost of the
Department of Transportation VE annual report FY 14, crusher path by about 33.33% and the pressers’ by approxi-
ROI is in Table 1. mately 45.56%. In 2012 another study was conducted applying
The Society of Japanese Value Engineering (SJVE) notes the VE methodology to a primary school model in Egypt. Its
that VE is function-oriented and can effectively use for service, application maximized the available construction and mainte-
product, system, or facility design projects. The defining char- nance budget utilization over 1250 schools [34]. According to
acteristics of VE are that it is function-oriented, improves val- [21], in the Bregana-Zagreb-Dubrovnik Motorway construc-
ues, and is cost-effective. All these components are required for tion in Croatia by BECHTEL – ENKA, the savings was about
successful VE implementation. Typically, VE application ben- 43,000,000 $ representing 6% and a time reduction about 17%
efits are cost reduction, time savings, quality improvements, for a contractor by using VE. It is agreed upon that the previ-
and isolation of design deficiencies. The VE practice goes ous studies added value to the projects, defining value as the
through systematic steps: preparation, information, analysis, least cost that can reliably accomplish a function with the
creation, evaluation, development, presentation, and follow- maintained quality and performance of the item. Therefore,
up. VE job plan defines the alternatives for each project item value analysis is a technique that builds item ‘‘Value” [8,9].
that can provide the same functions at an equal or better level
as the original item idea while simultaneously, Minimizing 3. Case Study: VE application
costs and adding benefits. There are several versions of the
job plan, though the procedures are all similar in their 3.1 Libyan educational building description
approach. EFA is an administratively and financially independent
It is a well-known fact that Construction projects routinely institution affiliated with the Ministry of Education. It special-
experience evolving expectations for project delivery and grow- izes in constructing, maintaining, and equipping educational
ing complexity. So, responsible agencies should identify the facilities such as kindergartens, schools, and administrative
optimal value approach for project delivery. Over the past headquarters affiliated with the Ministry. Its headquarter is
half-century, VE has emerged in developed countries as an in Tripoli, and have 15 branches throughout Libya. Statisti-
effective tool for time, costs, quality management, and maxi- cally, the total number of public schools in Libya is 3575, of
mizing the project’s value. While in developing countries, the which 258 were built by self-effort and 103 mobile schools.
limited result of 72 publications is likely due to VE application Due to the destruction, work was disrupted in approximately
in construction being a niche area of research. The distribution 70% of schools, and many of them have turned into shelters
of VE research by country/region denotes a strong interest in for the displaced due to previous and current military conflicts
VE in developing countries across Asia and the Middle East [12]. So, The Libyan Government issued a decision authorizing
[32]. VE methodology is becoming popular in most developed the Ministry of Education to build 1,500 schools distributed in
and a few developing countries [4,18]. different regions of the country within a period not exceeding
According to [27], VE aims to deliver the necessary function Three years, 500 schools a year [40]. According to Libyan news
of a specific facility at the lowest cost. In doing so, VE should agencies’ Statistics, on 31-5-2022, the total number of students
not function to impair product quality, reliability, perfor- in Basic education was 1774614, and the total number of sec-
mance, and maintainability. The first application of value engi- ondary school students was 317222. In Davos Education Qual-
neering in Saudi Arabia materialized in 1986 when Smith, ity Report, Libya was ranked 48th globally and 4th in the
Hinchman & Grylls Associates Inc. agreed with the Ministry Arab world in 2010, then fell to 113th in 2013. After that, it
of Defense and Aviation to provide VE services for all the was excluded from the following reports. Since decades ago,
Ministry’s projects. VE application focuses on project delivery the Libyan Construction Industry has suffered from problems
with the lowest overall project life cycle cost. Government variety, such as project delays, overrun costs, and failure to
agencies, for construction projects, need to stretch money achieve the project’s objectives, i.e., weak value. The country’s
value and meet the increasingly complex delivery requirements. tight fiscal situation directly causes low investment in
VE plays a crucial role in stakeholder value expectations meet- infrastructure.
ing by exploring material alternatives and design innovations, VE methodology is crucial to EFA in driving down the pro-
adapting transformative construction methods, optimizing ject cost and sustaining value, worth, and utility. VE focuses

Table 1 ROI for deffernt FYs.

Year 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14
ROI 29:1 98:1 46:1 18:1 14:1 254:1 21:1 28:1 58:1 30:1 13:1 29:1 29:1 61:1 31:1
738 M. Youssef et al.

on systematically reducing high-cost areas using the best alter-

Table 3 EFA criteria‘s and project constraints.
natives that perform the item’s primary function with mini-
mum cost. VE could be applied at any phase of the project EFA criteria Project constraints
cycle, but the highest benefit and cost savings are in the early A- Performance Project duartion
project stage. The main reason for the VE study presented here B- Construction cost Budget
is to face the challenges and barriers faced in the Libyan recon- C- Construction duration Satisfy safety codes
struction stage and to emphasize the benefit the EFA will gain. D- Quality Environment impact
The study went through the 6-stage job plan. This study will E- Maintenance cost Minimum maintenance cost
highlight the development phase, the most critical phase for F- Constructability
any VE application.

3.2. Case study

lating any alternative(s) (idea); constraints frequently affect
By following SAVE international methodology through all and restrict ideas selection. Table 3 shows the EFA criteria
study stages, the study aims to improve the project value by and project constraints.
reducing the project items’ cost.
3.2.2. Function analysis phase
3.2.1. Information phase
This phase distinguishes VE from other problem-solving tech-
In this phase, all available project documents were collected niques. Function-oriented analysis transforms project items
and processed to extract the project description, which was into functions described by verb-noun statements. One prob-
as follows: lematic aspect of the VE application lies in selecting items that
Project description: A school for basic education located in provide the best opportunity for value raise and cost savings.
the coastal area strip in the city of Al-Khums. The project is There are many tools for identifying those items. Relative Cost
called model 15, i.e., 15 classrooms with three parts over a Ranking (Pareto’s Law of Distribution); and Rank by Cost
total area of 4485 m2. The first part with code (A) is the main Index potential is used to determine significant project items
building on two floors with a bill of quantity (BOQ) of 189 for the VE study. By applying Pareto’s law to rank the costliest
items with a total cost of 3,016,168.026 Libyan Dinar (L.D). items for the project’s main building with code (A), 33 of 189
The building consists of (15 classes + 5, laboratories, +4 items were significant. For the second project part code (B),
activities room+, six administration offices, +1 theater + li- the number of significant items was nine from 27. For the third
brary+, and one storage room+; internal service facilities: project part with code (C), the number of significant items was
(mosque - toilets - cafeteria - medical services - radio) + Exter- 18 from 127. By calculating the cost index (CI) using equations
nal service facilities: (electrical control room- operation and (1),2,3), the most promising items are placed in priority order
maintenance room - guard room). The second part with code based on CI, and the highest priorities are chosen first for the
(B)is Handicapped Ramp and Canopy with BOQ 21 items with VE study. Any item whose unit cost is higher than the cost
a total cost of 212,040.569 L.D. The third part with code (C) is index is a cost-significant item (SI). Any item whose unit cost
Works outside the main building with BOQ 127 items, costing is less than the cost index is not significant. In this paper, we
474,172.892 L.D.. The following Table 2 summarizes project will continue to list the rest VE phases by two significant items
information. w.r.t main building (A), Handicapped Ramp and Canopy (B),
Before the beginning of the creation phase, the EFA’s needs and Works outside the main building (C) as shown in Table 4.
and requirements from the project should be known to better
understand the required essential functions of the project, lead-
ing to better identification and improvement. Also, project
restrictions should be defined before any analysis to avoid vio-
Table 4 Significant items under VE study in each project part
(A, B, C).
Table 2 Basic Project Information. Project Part code Significant Items with its code

Project Name: basic education school model 15 in Al-Khums city Main building (A) A1- walls and partitions of cement bricks,
thickness of 200 mm.
Owner: Libyan Ministry of Education, Educational Facilities A2- Supplying and construct industrial
Authority EFA floors resistant to electrostatic charges for
Project Part No. of Total cost % cost of laboratory.
BOQ items the total Handicapped Ramp B1- Supply and pour reinforced concrete
and Canopy (B) for ceiling slabs
A- Main building 189 3,016,168. 81
B2- Supply and installation of a
o26
waterproofing layer for the roofs
B- Handicapped 21 212,040.569 6
Works outside the C1- Supplying and making protective
Ramp and Canopy
main building (C) coatings for external walls of moisture and
C- Works outside the 127 474,172.892 13
weather resistant paints
main building
C2 - Reinforced concrete for water tanks
Total cost 3,702,381.487 100
Value engineering: Case study of Libyan educational buildings 739

X
m TCj
TPCj ¼ Cij Qij ð1Þ CIj ¼ ð3Þ
Qj
i¼1

X
m where TPC: total project cost, Q: total project items quanitity,
Qj ¼ Qij ð2Þ CI: cost index, J: no. Of project part (A,B,C), i: no of project
i¼1
itemitems in each code A, B, and C (1,2,. . ... . ... m).

Table 5 Significant project items alternatives rating w.r.t each criteria.

For alternatives rating: Excellent = 5, Degree of Criterion importance
V.good = 4, Good = 3, Fair = 2, Poor = 1
A- B- C- D- E- F-
Project Part A: Main building segificant items Performance Construction Construction Quality Maintenance Constructability
cods (A1), (A2) cost time cost

Alternatives: Pottery red brick. 4 2 3 4 4 3

A1- Walls and partitions of Hollow concrete 3 2 1 4 2 3
cement bricks, thickness of bricks.
200 mm Seaburx bricks. 4 1 2 3 2 1
Limestone 3 2 1 2 3 1
bricks.
Solid cement 4 2 3 1 1 1
brick.
Gypsum boards 2 3 4 2 1 2
on a metal frame.
krytal walls 3 4 3 2 1 2
Alternatives: Beech wood 4 3 2 3 1 2
A2- Supplying and construct floor.
industrial floors resistant to Rubber wood 3 2 3 4 2 3
electrostatic charges for flooring.
laboratory Muknuo wood 2 1 3 2 1 2
flooring.
Project Part B: Handicapped Ramp and Canopy Items cods (B1), (B2)
B1- Supply and pour Portland cement 5 2 1 4 3 2
reinforced concrete for ceiling reinforced
slabs concrete.
Reinforced 4 3 2 5 2 3
concrete of single
bricks (Hordy)
Reinforced 3 2 1 3 4 2
concrete of
cement-lime
B2- Supply and installation Insulating layer 3 2 1 4 3 2
of a waterproofing layer for of bitumen coil.
the roofs Polyester 2 3 2 3 1 3
insulating layer
An insulating 3 2 2 4 1 2
layer of drip
burlap.
Project Part C: Works outside the main building Items cods (C1), (C2)
C1- Supplying and making Granite walls 3 2 2 3 3 2
protective coatings for painted with an
external walls of moisture oil layer
and weather resistant paints Wall paint with 4 3 1 4 2 3
type (Jotun)
C2– Reinforced concrete for Portland cement 4 2 3 4 3 2
water tanks reinforced
concrete.
Reinforced 4 3 3 3 2 1
concrete of sulfur
cement with the
addition of sica.
740 M. Youssef et al.

3.2.3. Creativity and evaluation phase of a Brainstorming group; the individual (solo) brainstorming
During the creativity Phase, several techniques are available, was used to create a wide variety of ideas for significant project
such as brainstorming, nominal group technique, Gordon parts items code (A, B, and C) with solo sites engineers and
technique, and TRIZ. The author has limitations to consist solo projects managers in different local construction firms

Table 6 A-b: criteria scoring matrix and weighting for main building significant item a1.
(a) Criteria Scoring Matrix
B C D E F Score(1)
A A-3 A-C A-4 A-4 A-3 15
B C-2 B-D B-E B-2 4
C D-3 C-3 C-4 10
D D-4 D-3 11
E E-F 2
How Importance: F 1
(4) Major difference in importance
(3) Medium difference in importance
(2) Minor difference in importance
(1) Slight difference importance
One point each (letter - letter)

(b) Criteria weighting process

Design model: 15 classes Item: A1
Criteria Weight(3) Score(2)
A Performance 10 15
B Construction cost 2.7 4
C construction time 6.7 10
D Quality 7.3 11
E Maintenance cost 1.3 2
F Constructability 0.6 1
(1), (2), (3) denote to steps arrangement

Table 7 -a-b. Criteria scoring matrix and weighting for main building significant item A2.
(a) Criteria Scoring Matrix
B C D E F Score(1)
A A-B A-2 D-1 A-E F-1 4
B C-B B-2 B-1 B-F 6
C D-1 C-1 C-F 3
D D-2 D-2 6
How Importance: E E-F 2
(4) Major difference in importance F 3
(3) Medium difference in importance
(2) Minor difference in importance
(1) Slight difference importance
One point each (letter – letter)

(b) Criteria weighting process

Design model: 15 classes Item: A2
Criteria Weight(3) Score(2)
A Performance 2.4 4
B Construction cost 10 6
C construction time 5 3
D Quality 10 6
E Maintenance cost 3.3 2
F Constructability 5 3
(1), (2), (3) denote to steps arrangement
Value engineering: Case study of Libyan educational buildings 741

Table 8 Decision matrix for main building selected significant items A1, A2.
Main building significt items A1 Desired Criteria Total Ranking
and A2
For alternatives rating:
Excellent = 5, V.good = 4,
Good = 3, Fair = 2, Poor = 1
Performance Construction construction Quality Maintenance Constructability
cost time cost
Item A1: Walls and partitions of cement bricks, thickness of 200 mm
Weight Of Importance 0 ? 10 A B C D E F
10 2.7 6.7 7.5 1.3 0.6
Pottery red brick. w. rating 40 5.4 20.1 29.2 5.2 1.8 101.7 1
Rating 4 2 3 4 4 3
Hollow concrete w. rating 30 5.4 6.7 29.2 2.6 1.8 75.7 4
bricks. Rating 3 2 1 4 2 3
Seaburx bricks. w. rating 40 2.7 13.4 21.9 2.6 0.6 81.2 2
Rating 4 1 2 3 2 1
Limestone bricks. w. rating 30 5.4 6.7 14.6 3.9 0.6 61.2 7
Rating 3 2 1 2 3 1
Solid cement w. rating 40 5.4 20.1 7.3 1.3 0.6 74.4 5
brick. Rating 4 2 3 1 1 1
Gypsum boards w. rating 20 8.1 26.8 14.6 1.3 1.2 72 6
on a metal frame. Rating 2 3 4 2 1 2
krytal walls w. rating 30 10.8 20.1 14.6 1.3 1.2 78 3
Rating 3 4 3 2 1 2
Item A2: Supplying and construct industrial floors resistant to electrostatic charges for laboratory floors
Weight Of Importance 0 ? 10 A B C D E F
2.4 10 5 10 3.3 5
Beech wood floor. w. rating 9.6 30 10 30 3.3 10 92.2 2
Rating 4 3 2 3 1 2
Rubber wood w. rating 7.2 20 15 40 6.6 15 103.8 1
flooring. Rating 3 2 3 4 2 3
Muknuo wood w. rating 4.8 10 15 20 3.3 10 63.1 3
flooring. Rating 2 1 3 2 1 2

Table 9 A-b. criteria scoring and weighting matrix for handicapped ramp and canopy item b1.
(a) Criteria Scoring Matrix
B C D E F Score(1)
A A-3 A-2 A-2 A-1 A-3 11
B B-2 B-D B-1 B-F 5
C D-2 E-3 C-F 1
D D-2 D-3 8
How Importance: E E-F 4
(4) Major difference in importance F 3
(3) Medium difference in importance
(2) Minor difference in importance
(1) Slight difference importance
One point each (letter - letter)

(b) Criteria weighting process

Design model: 15 classes Item: B1
Criteria Weight(3) Score(2)
A Performance 10 11
B Construction cost 4.5 5
C construction time 0.9 1
D Quality 7.2 8
E Maintenance cost 3.6 4
F Constructability 2.7 3
(1), (2), (3) denote to steps arrangement
742 M. Youssef et al.

Table 10 A-b. criteria scoring and weighting matrix for handicapped ramp and canopy item b2.
(a) Criteria Scoring Matrix
B C D E F Score(1)
A A-5 A-3 A-D A-E A-1 11
B B-C D-3 B-E B-2 4
C C-D E-C C-1 4
D D-3 D-2 10
How Importance: E F-2 3
(4) Major difference in importance F 2
(3) Medium difference in importance
(2) Minor difference in importance
(1) Slight difference importance
One point each (letter – letter)

(b) Criteria weighting process

Design model: 15 classes Item: B2
Criteria Weight(3) Score(2)
A Performance 10 11
B Construction cost 3.6 4
C construction time 3.6 4
D Quality 0.9 10
E Maintenance cost 2.7 3
F Constructability 1.8 2
(1), (2), (3) denote to steps arrangement

Table 11 Decision matrix for Handicapped Ramp and Canopy selected item B1, B2.
Handicapped Ramp and Canopy Desired Criteria Total Ranking
significt items B1,B2
For alternatives rating:
Excellent = 5, V.good = 4,
Good = 3, Fair = 2, Poor = 1
Performance Construction construction Quality Maintenance Constructability
cost time cost
Item B1: Supply and pour reinforced concrete for ceiling slabs
Weight Of Importance 0 ? 10 A B C D E F
10 4.5 0.9 7.3 3.6 2.7
Portland cement w. rating 50 9 0.9 29.2 10.8 5.4 105.3 2
reinforced Rating 5 2 1 4 3 2
concrete.
Reinforced w. rating 40 13.5 1.8 36.5 7.2 8.1 107.1 1
concrete of single Rating 4 3 2 5 2 3
bricks (Hordy)
Reinforced w. rating 30 9 0.9 21.9 14.4 5.4 81.6 3
concrete of Rating 3 2 1 3 4 2
cement-lime
Item B2: Supply and installation of a waterproofing layer for the roofs
Weight Of Importance 0 ? 10 A B C D E F
10 3.6 3.6 0.9 2.7 1.8
Insulating layer of w. rating 30 7.2 3.6 3.6 8.1 3.6 56.1 1
bitumen coil. Rating 3 2 1 4 3 2
Polyester w. rating 20 10.8 7.2 2.7 2.7 5.4 48.8 3
insulating layer Rating 2 3 2 3 1 3
An insulating w. rating 30 7.2 7.2 3.6 2.7 3.6 54.3 2
layer of drip Rating 3 2 2 4 1 2
burlap.
Value engineering: Case study of Libyan educational buildings 743

Table 12 A-b. criteria scoring and weighting matrix for works outside the main building c1.
(a) Criteria Scoring Matrix
B C D E F Score(1)
A A-B A-1 A-D A-2 A-3 8
B B-C D-2 B-E F-1 3
C D-1 C-2 C-F 4
D D-3 D-1 8
How Importance: E F-2 1
(4) Major difference in importance F 4
(3) Medium difference in importance
(2) Minor difference in importance
(1) Slight difference importance
One point each (letter - letter)

(b) Criteria weighting process

Design model: 15 classes Item: C1
Criteria Weight(3) Score(2)
A Performance 10 8
B Construction cost 3.8 3
C construction time 5 4
D Quality 10 8
E Maintenance cost 1.3 1
F Constructability 5 4
(1), (2), (3) denote to steps arrangement

Table 13 A-b. criteria scoring and weighting matrix for works outside the main building c2.
(a) Criteria Scoring Matrix
B C D E F Score(1)
A A-B A-1 A-D A-1 A-2 6
B B-C B-D B-2 B-1 6
C C-D C-1 F-1 3
D D-2 D-1 6
How Importance: E E-F 1
(4) Major difference in importance F 2
(3) Medium difference in importance
(2) Minor difference in importance
(1) Slight difference importance
One point each (letter - letter)

(b) Criteria weighting process

Design model: 15 classes Item: C2
Criteria Weight(3) Score(2)
A Performance 10 6
B Construction cost 10 6
C construction time 5 3
D Quality 10 6
E Maintenance cost 1.6 1
F Constructability 3.3 2
(1), (2), (3) denote to steps arrangement

to provide the basic functions for these project items. The ideas ject criteria from sites engineers and projects managers by
are collected and listed without evaluation, then screened giving a rating for each idea on a scale (1–5), 5 for excellent,
according to project constraints before evaluation. The short- 4 for very good, 3 for good, 2 for fair and 1 for poor as shown
list of ideas for each significant item was evaluated w.r.t pro- in Table 5.
744 M. Youssef et al.

Table 14 Decision matrix for Works outside the main building selected item C1, C2.
Works outside the main building Desired Criteria Total Ranking
significt items C1,C2
For alternatives rating:
Excellent = 5, V.good = 4,
Good = 3, Fair = 2, Poor = 1
Performance Construction construction Quality Maintenance Constructability
cost time cost
Item C1: Supplying and making protective coatings for external walls of moisture and weather resistant paints
Weight Of A B C D E F
Importance 0 ? 10
10 3.8 5 10 1.3 5
Granite walls are w. rating 30 7.6 10 30 3.9 10 91.5 2
painted and painted
with an oil layer
Rating 3 2 2 3 3 2
Wall paint with w. rating 40 11.4 5 40 2.6 15 114 1
paints type (Jotun)
Rating 4 3 1 4 2 3
Item C2: Reinforced concrete for water tanks
Weight Of A B C D E F
Importance 0 ? 10
10 10 5 10 1.6 3.3
Portland cement w. rating 40 20 15 40 4.8 6.6 126.4 1
reinforced concrete.
Rating 4 2 3 4 3 2
Reinforced concrete w. rating 40 30 15 30 3.2 3.3 121.5 2
of sulfur cement with
the addition of sica.
Rating 4 3 3 3 2 1

Table 15 Development Phase - Cost saving table.

Significant Item Original cost L.D Alternative rank (1) cost Alternative rank (2) cost
L.D L.D
Q Unit Total Unit Total Saving Unit Total Saving
cost cost cost cost % cost cost %
A1: Walls and partitions of cement bricks, thickness of 584 81.51 47601.84 54.34 3173.56 30 65.2 38,081 20
200 mm
A2: Supplying and construct industrial floors resistant to 350 91 31,850 68.25 23887.5 25 72.8 25,480 20
electrostatic charges for laboratory
B1: Supply and pour reinforced concrete for ceiling slabs 175 309 54076.8 231.8 40557.6 25 247.2 43,261 20
B2: Supply and installation of a waterproofing layer for the 723 19.5 14098.5 13 9399 30 15.6 11278.8 20
roofs
C1 Supplying and making protective coatings for external 2500 10.4 26,000 7.8 19,500 25 8.32 20,800 20
walls of moisture and weather resistant paints
C2 Reinforced concrete for water tanks 45 340.99 15344.6 227.3 10229.7 30 255.7 11508.4 25

3.2.3.1. Weight evaluation for ideas under study. After rating analysis matrix for alternative ranking, as shown in Table 11.
each alternative w.r.t project criteria‘s stage ended, then start In the same way, the Criteria Scoring Matrix and Criteria
the weight evaluation for each significant item. The weight weighting process as shown in Table 12 (a, b) and Table 13
evaluation consists of a two-step, 1st step Criteria Scoring (a, b) for Works outside the main building significant items
Matrix and the Criteria weighting process as shown in Table 6 (C1), (C2). 2nd step is the decision analysis matrix for alterna-
(a,b) and Table 7 (a,b) for main building significant items (A1), tive ranking, as shown in Table 14.
(A2). 2nd step is the decision analysis matrix for alternative
ranking, as shown in Table 8. In the same way, the Criteria
3.2.4. Development phase
Scoring Matrix and Criteria weighting process were shown in
Table 9 (a,b) and Table 10 (a,b) for Handicapped Ramp and This phase aimed to provide further analysis of the alternatives
Canopy significant items (B1), (B2). 2nd step is the decision with the first ranking from the decision matrix of the weight
Value engineering: Case study of Libyan educational buildings 745

Fig. 1 VE alternatives cost benefits.

evaluation step. The first-ranked alternatives are clearly stated Adopting the VE program to the Libyan educational build-
so the owner, EFA, understands their impacts, cost saving, ings will save money and increase the project’s value to
and construction time. Table 15 shows the differences between EFA.
each significant item’s original cost and alternative outputs
from the VE study matrix weight evaluation. Also, After Future recommendations for Libyan reconstruction:
applying VE as a function-oriented technique, in the case EFA should build a team responsible for VE studies in the
study, the cost benefits of keeping the same project (item) per- design, construction, and maintenance phases of school build-
formance are shown in Fig. 1. ings. This team is called the ‘‘Value Engineering Department”
inside its organization and branches.
The Libyan construction sector needs to be Re-engineered
4. Results discussion, conclusions and recommendations and adopt advanced management tools, such as Supply Chain
Management (SCM). Also, Local construction firms should be
The best feasible alternative from the available ideas was qualified to use the new techniques and contribute to foreign
chosen through the ranking table. Looking at the results of firms needed in Libya’s reconstruction phase. Finally, VE is
the VE application on Basic schools, according to the a promising tool for Libyan construction sustainability by
weighted rating of different ideas, the first suitable alterna- adopting a comprehensive long-term VE approach.
tives, w.r.t all significant project items, achieved up to 30
% cost savings. The study has value and significant effects
CRediT authorship contribution statement
for LCI, especially in education buildings, as a case study,
where literature on VE approach philosophy and knowledge
is made and found a gap in this area. During the job plan Medhat Youssef: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Formal
phase, the authors found that the main challenges in the analysis, Data curation, Writing – original draft, Writing –
LCI are wrong beliefs and EFA insensitivity to public needs review & editing, Visualization, Supervision. Salah M. Hussein
regarding projects. Also, negative attitudes and failure to rec- AlDeep: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Writ-
ognize creativity. The study discussed the concept of Value ing – original draft. Mahmoud Malek Olwan: Writing – review
Engineering applied at EFA, the job plan, and its implemen- & editing, Conceptualization, Software, Data curation.
tation through a case study. The findings demonstrated that
gains are maximized without hindering the project perfor- Declaration of Competing Interest
mance criteria. With the effective utilization of VE, the out-
comes are successful. The authors declare that they have no known competing
From the finding mentioned above, conclude the financial interests or personal relationships that could have
followings: appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

1. The most valuable idea does not mean having the lowest
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