Rough Set Theory for Real Estate Appraisal: An Application to Directional District of Naples

This paper proposes an application of Rough Set Theory (RST) to the real estate field, in order to highlight its operational potentialities for mass appraisal purposes. RST allows one to solve the appraisal of real estate units regardless of the deterministic relationship between characteristics that contribute to the formation of the property market price and the same real estate prices. RST was applied to a real estate sample (office units located in Directional District of Naples) and was also integrated with a functional extension so-called Valued Tolerance Relation (VTR) in order to improve its flexibility. A multiple regression analysis (MRA) was developed on the same real estate sample with the aim to compare RST and MRA results. The case study is followed by a brief discussion on basic theoretical connotations of this methodology

Valuation of real estate investments through Fuzzy Logic

This paper aims to outline the application of Fuzzy Logic in real estate investment. In literature, there is a wide theoretical background on real estate investment decisions, but there has been a lack of empirical support in this regard. For this reason, the paper would fill the gap between theory and practice. The fuzzy logic system is adopted to evaluate the situations of a real estate market with imprecise and vague information. To highlight the applicability of the Possibility Theory, we proceeded to reconsider an example of property investment evaluation through fuzzy logic. The case study concerns the purchase of an office building. The results obtained with Fuzzy Logic have been also compared with those arising from a deterministic approach through the use of crisp numbers

A Multidimensional Evaluation Approach for the Natural Parks Design

The design of a natural park is generated by the need to protect and organize, for conservation and/or for balanced growth, parts of the territory that are of particular interest for the quality of the natural and historical–cultural heritage. The necessary tool to support the decision-making process in the design of a natural park are the financial and economic evaluations, which intervene in three successive steps: in the definition of protection and enhancement levels of the park areas; in the choice of the interventions to be implemented for the realization of these levels of protection and enhancement; in determining and verifying the economic and financial results obtainable from the project execution. This contribution deals with aspects and issues relating to the economic and financial evaluation of natural park projects. In particular, an application of the “Complex Social Value” to a concrete case of environmental design is developed on the basis of the elements that can be deduced from a feasibility study of a natural park: the levels of protection and enhancement of the homogeneous areas of the natural park are preliminarily defined, and the choice of the design alternative to be implemented is, therefore, rationalized with multicriteria analysis

Using Genetic Algorithms for Real Estate Appraisal

The main aim of this paper is the interpretation of the existing relationship between real estate rental prices and geographical location of housing units in a central urban area of Naples (Santa Lucia and Riviera of Chiaia neighborhoods). Genetic algorithms (GA) are used for this purpose. Also, to verify the reliability of genetic algorithms for real estate appraisals and, at the same time, to show the forecasting potentialities of these techniques in the analysis of housing markets, a multiple regression analysis (MRA) was applied comparing results of GA and MRA

Models for the Evaluation of Productivity and Costs of Mechanized Felling on Poplar Short Rotation Coppice in Italy

The forest biomass, as a renewable energy source, can significantly contribute to the progressive replacement of fossil fuels in energy production, with a positive final balance in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. One of the different sources of woody biomass supply is represented by short rotation coppices (SRC) plantations, currently present in various European countries for a total of about fifty thousand hectares. In Italy, part of the SRC surface has been converted into other more profitable crops, both the low levels reached by the woodchips market price and the scarce availability of specific public incentives. In this study, the authors expose the results of the models for evaluating work time, productivity, and costs of the felling operation on SRC poplar plantations with 8- and 11-year-old trees. The aim is to evaluate the economic sustainability in the use of advanced mechanization on these plantations. The machine was a crawler excavator equipped with a shear head. In the 11-year-old plantation, the productivity estimation model returned a range of 1.09–18.93 Mg h−1 (average 5.56 ± 3.88 SD) when the weight variation of the trees was 20–491 kgw (average 100.41 ± 87.48 SD). In the 8-year-old poplar, the range was 1.02–11.60 Mg h−1 (average 3.80 ± 1.71 SD), for weight variation of 17–137 kgw (average 50.57 ± 18.82 SD). The consequent variation in unit cost was EUR 2.82–51.63 Mg−1 and EUR 4.05–49.65 Mg−1, corresponding to EUR 1252.17–3463.78 ha−1 and EUR 922.49–2545.11 ha−1 for 11- and 8-year-old trees, respectively

Capital Asset Pricing Model: An application to the estimation of undivided real estate shares

The estimate of undivided and indivisible real estate shares, in relation to different building types represents, in practice application, a recurring underestimated by the professional appraisers. This problem requires finding a logical solution that can to rationalize the process the process of estimation of undivided shares, given that these shares are more difficult to sell and, consequently, there is a decrease of their market value. It follows that in this estimative case the problem can be lead, both in theoretical and practical terms, to assessment of specific real estate investment’s risk and how to convert the measure of risk into an expected return that can compensate it. In this framework, the proposed contribution aims to implement the Capital Asset Pricing Model with Penalized Spline Semiparametric Method in order to obtain an estimation algorithm that allows to rationalize the approach to the problem of estimation of undivided real estate shares using data easy to find

Study on the Effect of a New Rotor Designed for Chipping Short Rotation Woody Crops

The particle size distribution of wood chips, along with the moisture content, are some of the main parameters for defining the quality of most wood fuels. A new experimental rotor, powered by the self-propelled forage harvester Claas Jaguar was developed by the Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l\u27analisi dell\u27economia agraria (CRA), Agricultural Engineering Research Unit (CRA-ING). The rotor allowed for improved dimensional features of wood chips. The comminution achieved with the CRA–ING drum increased the percentage of 16–45 mm wood chips fraction from 63.69% to 73.29%, and progressively reduced the fraction of chips less than 16 mm from 35.20 to 25.35%. Consequently, the bulk density of the chips decreased by 8.57% in comparison with products obtained by standard devices. The dimensional increments achieved by the rotor and the percentage reduction of the smallest fractions represent two valuable elements affecting the behaviour of the wood chips during storage and handling