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- Using metaheuristics-based methods to provide sustainable market solutions, suitable to consumer needsPublication . Santos, Ricardo; Abreu, António; Monteiro, JoaquimNowadays the buildings sector is one of the key sectors to achieve sustainability, with the correspondent consumers, in particular, the household consumers, having the need to perform sustainable choices every day, regarding the appliances to be acquired from the market. This is not only due to government’s growing concerns about sustainability but also with the consumers on having sustainable solutions, given the different economic, social (including their comfort) and environmental needs. However, the existence of several electrical appliances on market, with all their different issues, brands and models, together with the several tradeoffs referred before, difficult the consumer’s choices, on having sustainable solutions in the market. Therefore, this work, presents an approach, by using Multi-Attribute Value Theory (MAVT), integrated with metaheuristics, which uses Evolutionary Algorithms (EA) to provide suitable and sustainable market solutions to a consumer, according to its own needs. Based on the achieved solutions and considering the relative importance, given to each consumer, and regarding each dimension of sustainability, it’s possible to achieve several savings, namely electrical and water consumption, CO2 emissions, among others. A case study shall be shown, to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed approach.
- A new approach to provide sustainable solutions for residential sectorPublication . Santos, Ricardo; Matias, Joao; Abreu, AntónioAn energy-efficient appliance normally presents a lower energy con-sumption compared to a less efficient one, with a higher initial investment, alt-hough this not always happens. Additionally, each appliance, presents very dif-ferent features, leading to some difficulties on its choice by the consumer (deci-sion-agent). On the other hand, each consumer, has specific and distinguished needs from other consumers, namely of social, economic or environmental nature. Even by adopting these criteria, this is not an isolated guarantee of an optimal solution for the consumer. It is then necessary to complement this approach with multicriteria, combined with optimization techniques. Evolutionary Algorithms (EA), could be used as an optimization technique, to provide sustainable solutions to the consumer, from the market. In this paper, it’s presented an approach that integrates both concepts, where at the end, it shall be presented a case study, to demonstrate the application of the proposed method.
- Energy efficiency in buildings by using evolutionary algorithms: an approach to provide efficiency choices to the consumer, considering the rebound effectPublication . Santos, Ricardo; Matias, João; Abreu, AntónioEnergy efficiency can be achieved, by making optimal choices of household appliances, based on specific rules for consumption and use. However, it's not always possible to achieve good solutions, since in general, an efficient equipment, with an economic consumption savings during his life cycle, is usually an expensive one, with a high initial investment. Additionally, the interaction of these choices, associated with consumer behavior, could lead toward to efficient losses during the lifecycle of the equipment, and then to a situation of indirect rebound effect. In this work, it is presented an approach, applied to the residential buildings, by using evolutionary algorithms to support consumer decisions. The approach presented here, could promote energy efficiency by providing the consumer with several optimal and feasible solutions, and at the same time, with information about the impact of his choices made on future.