An Analysis of Preferences in Housing Demand by Means of a Multicriteria Methodology (AHP). A More Sustainable Approach

[EN] This paper examines key aspects of the behavior of housing demand from a sustainable standpoint. Most studies have mainly focused on housing supply, looking at quantitative predictions without considering the qualitative relationship found between housing values and housing demand on a sustainable and microeconomic scale. We used a multicriteria decision methodology (analytic hierarchy process-AHP) for the analysis of preferences in demand, based on the theory of multi-attribute utility of housing, to determine the relative importance of each characteristic of housing and its influence on the decision-making process. For this purpose, we carried out the study over three main groups of stakeholders in the housing market: real estate surveyors, real estate agents, and housing buyers (the latter representing the housing demand). Results show that although there might be some slight discrepancies among the three groups in the decision-making process and the weighting of housing attributes, the three groups agree in most of the process, especially when defining the criteria and the importance that each criterion has on the process of valuation. This study provides important managerial and sustainable implications for the real estate market related to urban public policy, as we highlight which criteria are most preferred.Cervelló Royo, RE.; Segura, M.; Garcia-Perez, R.; Segura García Del Río, B. (2021). An Analysis of Preferences in Housing Demand by Means of a Multicriteria Methodology (AHP). A More Sustainable Approach. Sustainability. 13(14):1-16. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13147550116131

Protection of cultural heritage buildings and artistic assets from seismic hazard: A hierarchical approach

The occurrence of natural disasters such as earthquakes represent a worldwide challenge in the conservation of cultural heritage (CH), which suffer from damage due to high vulnerability conditions. Therefore, the protection of CH from seismic hazard is of paramount importance. Damage and vulnerability assessment of CH and artistic assets play a key role in the identification of conservation strategies. Effective strategies require the stabilization of severely damaged buildings and the preventive improvement of constructions structural response to seismic actions. Although the operation of emergency inspections is meant to classify buildings on the basis of buildings residual seismic capacity, investment decisions in restoration and conservation strategies of such vulnerable structures must take into consideration tangible and intangible values of both building structures and artistic goods as well as must combine objectives of verifying structural safety standards and preserving cultural heritage significance. Damage and vulnerability assessment depend on different criteria, which, on the one hand, are related to buildings structural characteristics, materials, and geometrical properties. On the other hand, to the peculiarities and uniqueness of artworks and artistic goods present on structural elements. In this paper, an AHP (absolute) model is proposed to rank multi-criteria prioritization of protection and restoration interventions on a set of 15 churches, which were damaged by earthquakes, occurring in Italy in the last decades. In detail, in order to structure the decision problem, identify key factors, and define the hierarchy, we conducted an extensive literature review and interviewed a pool of experts. Focus groups were organized to develop the set of criteria and sub-criteria and validate the hierarchy by dynamic discussion

Knowledge-based Consistency Index for Fuzzy Pairwise Comparison Matrices

Abstract—Fuzzy AHP is today one of the most used Multiple Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) techniques. The main argument to introduce fuzzy set theory within AHP lies in its ability to handle uncertainty and vagueness arising from decision makers (when performing pairwise comparisons between a set of criteria/alternatives). As humans usually reason with granular information rather than precise one, such pairwise comparisons may contain some degree of inconsistency that needs to be properly tackled to guarantee the relevance of the result/ranking. Over the last decades, several consistency indexes designed for fuzzy pairwise comparison matrices (FPCMs) were proposed, as will be discussed in this article. However, for some decision theory specialists, it appears that most of these indexes fail to be properly “axiomatically” founded, thus leading to misleading results. To overcome this, a new index, referred to as KCI (Knowledge-based Consistency Index) is introduced in this paper, and later compared with an existing index that is axiomatically well founded. The comparison results show that (i) both indexes perform similarly from a consistency measurement perspective, but (ii) KCI contributes to significantly reduce the computation time, which can save expert’s time in some MCDM problems

Software Quality Evaluation Model Based on Weighted Mutation Rate Correction Incompletion G1 Combination Weights

Aiming at the common problems of quality evaluation method, this paper first establishes a fuzzy software quality evaluation model according to the relationship of software quality subcharacteristics and indicators; furthermore, considering the uncertainty and individual deviations of expert judgment results, this paper corrects and tests the consistency of the incomplete information sorting given by the experts and obtains an integration sorting of gathering different expert opinions through the idea of circling modification; at last, this paper proposes the weighted mutation rate which is used to measure the development balance degree and determines weights of evaluation indicators via weighted mutation rate correction incompletion G1 method, which avoids the problem of integration of subjective and objective weights

The method of judging satisfactory consistency of linguistic judgment matrix based on adjacency matrix and 3-loop matrix

Language phrases are an effective way to express uncertain pieces of information, and easily conforms to the language habits of decision makers to describe the evaluation of things. The consistency judgment of a linguistic judgment matrices is the key to analytic hierarchy process (AHP). If a linguistic judgment matrix has a satisfactory consistency, then the rank of the decision schemes can be determined. In this study, the comparison relation between the decision schemes is first represented by a directed graph. The preference relation matrix of the linguistic judgment matrix is the adjacency matrix of the directed graph. We can use the $n - 1$ st power of the preference relation to judge the linguistic judgment matrix whether has a satisfactory consistency. The method is utilized if there is one and only one element in the $n - 1$ st power of the preference relation, and the element 1 is not on the main diagonal. Then the linguistic judgment matrix has a satisfactory consistency. If there are illogical judgments, the decision schemes that form a 3-loop can be identified and expressed through the second-order sub-matrix of the preference relation matrix. The feasibility of this theory can be verified through examples. The corresponding schemes for illogical judgments are represented in spatial coordinate system

A framework to identify and prioritise the key sustainability indicators: Assessment of heating systems in the built environment

Sustainability indicators (SIs) are important instruments to quantify, analyse, and communicate complex sustainability information, with a history of application in energy research. It is critical to identify an effective set of indicators which can holistically evaluate the energy systems encompassing the three facets of sustainability: environment, economy, and society. However, the literature has been lacking in either proportionally representing the sustainability dimensions or reflecting the stakeholders’ preferences. This paper develops a framework to identify and prioritise a set of SIs, critically reviewed to ensure reflection of a wide array of factors and conceptions of what sustainability entails. The developed framework utilises a series of methods within three phases: identification, refinement, and prioritisation. Applying the proposed framework to building heating technologies, a set of 22 SIs consisting of 4 economic, 8 environmental, and 10 social indicators were identified. According to the results, the economic indicators of Operation & Maintenance Cost and Net Present Value were found to be the most impactful factors, while environmental SIs contribute the most to the overall sustainability weight. The identified indicators apply to the assessment of heating systems and policies, and the proposed framework could more broadly support analysis of key sustainability criteria in various fields

Prioritizing Offshore Vendor Selection Criteria for the North American Geospatial Industry

The U.S. market for geospatial services totaled US $2.2 billion in 2010, representing 50% of the global market. Data-processing firms subcontract labor-intensive portions of data services to offshore providers in South and East Asia and Eastern Europe. In general, half of all offshore contracts fail within the first 5 years because one or more parties consider the relationship unsuccessful. Despite the high failure rates, no study has examined the offshore vendor selection process in the geospatial industry. The purpose of this study was to determine the list of key offshore vendor selection criteria and the efficacy of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) for ranking the criteria that North American geospatial companies consider in the offshore vendor selection process. After the selection of the initial list of factors from the literature and their validation in a pilot study, a final survey instrument was developed and administered to 15 subject matter experts (SMEs) in North America. The SMEs expressed their preferences for one criterion over another by pairwise comparisons, which served as input to the AHP procedure. The results showed that the quality of deliverables was the top ranked (out of 26) factors, instead of the price, which ranked third. Similarly, SMEs considered social and environmental consciousness on the vendor side as irrelevant. More importantly, the findings indicated that the structured AHP process provides a useful and effective methodology whose application may considerably improve the quality of the overall vendor selection process. Last, improved and stabilized business relationships leading to predictable budgets might catalyze social change, supporting stable employment. Consumers could benefit from derivative improvements in product quality and pricing

Ranking Small Business Resistance Criteria Toward the Affordable Care Act

Following the enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010, politicians, media, and lobbyists rendered a number of conflicting and confusing interpretations of its merits and demerits. Such interpretations intensified the skepticism and concerns of small business enterprise (SBE) owners. The purpose of this study was to develop a representative, prioritized list of SBE owners\u27 concerns or resistance factors. The goal was to create a useful guide for SBE owners who are seeking ways to reducing the adverse financial impact of the law. With social choice theory as the theoretical framework, 50 randomly selected SBE owners across 5 distinct industry groups from Richmond, Virginia, participated in an online, cross-sectional, pairwise comparison survey. The overall results of an analytic hierarchy process indicated that the top-ranked resistance factor of SBE owners was insurance premiums, followed by quality of care and the tax burden. However, these rankings were not uniform among industry groups. With a focus on these crucial concerns, SBE owners could benefit by seeking approaches to reduce the business costs of health care. The implications for positive social change include the potential for business organizations, researchers, and policymakers to channel SBE owners\u27 voice for a socioeconomic growth by addressing their concerns in seeking improvements from the ACA