A smart value management decision-making model for sustainable infrastructure projects: integrating TRIZ, AHP and life-cycle cost analysis

Purpose Value management (VM) has the capability to enhance a project's functions at minimum lifecycle cost; however, limited creativity, subjectivity in decision-making and inadequate digitalisation (digitisation phase) have limited its success. This paper aims to address the research gap by integrating Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA), TRIZ (Inventive Problem-Solving) and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) within a low-code platform (Microsoft Power Apps) to enhance rigour, transparency and sustainability. Design/methodology/approach The method was executed using a six-step VM job plan and tested on the Warners Bridge case study located in Queensland, Australia. Nine design alternatives were created from TRIZ. AHP was used to methodically calculate the weights of criteria and to calculate and compare lifecycle costs using a 100-year LCCA. Findings The results indicated that the developed framework enables logical screening and ranking of infrastructure alternatives by coupling multiple-criteria decision-making (MCDM) with lifecycle costing (LCC). It is observed that simultaneously evaluating functional performance, sustainability and economics within a single decision framework yields less cost-driven and more value-based outcomes. The application of RII (Relative Importance Index), AHP and LCCA enables logical screening of feasible alternatives and sound ranking, whilst clearly identifying opportunities for advanced materials systems to enhance whole-of-life performance. The framework has the potential to improve the objectivity, transparency and repeatability of infrastructure-related decisions. Practical implications The framework and tool provide infrastructure sector stakeholders with a how-to guide for incorporating sustainability principles into VM decision-making. Originality/value The current study applies TRIZ contradiction analysis to the VM creativity phase of infrastructure projects. Further, a unique methodology that fuses AHP-weighted evaluation with LCCA-based value indexing is presented to enable transparent, repeatable decision-making through a low-code digital platform.