An Effective Approach to Input Variable Selection for Preliminary Cost Estimation of Construction Projects

Table 8

Selection order of input variables and distance to ideal input.

Variable group (V1)	Symbol	Coefficient	BNP	Euclidean distance	Preferred order
Project size	V11	0.1525	0.2834	1.1099	1
Project complexity	V13	0.1417	0.2586	1.1341	2
Project scope	V14	0.1274	0.1853	1.1938	3
Project type	V12	0.1499	0.1294	1.2168	4
Project duration	V15	0.1253	0.1216	1.2396	5
Project location	V16	0.1044	0.0995	1.2701	6
Variable group (V2)
Number of bridges	V23	0.2436	0.4366	0.9432	1
Existence of groundwater	V21	0.3191	0.3393	0.9488	2
Bridge type	V22	0.2804	0.2801	1.0179	3
Variable group (V3)
Inflation rate	V31	0.3409	0.1293	1.0921	1
Site topography	V32	0.2657	0.1442	1.1276	2
Soil type	V33	0.2195	0.0798	1.2066	3