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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.
- A soft computing framework to support consumers in obtaining sustainable appliances from the marketPublication . Santos, Ricardo; Abreu, António; Soares, José; Mendes, Fernanda; Calado, João Manuel FerreiraCurrently, sustainability is considered a priority by society, with the household appliances being one of the economic sectors involved in achieving sustainability. However, the existence of several issues (e.g., energy and water consumption, reliability, initial cost, and illuminance, among others) together with the diversity of brands and models on the market, make the consumer’s decisions regarding sustainable options difficult, according to their concerns and related to each sustainability dimension (economic, environmental, and social). By combining evolutionary algorithms (EA) with multicriteria techniques, it is possible to achieve sustainable solutions for the consumer based on their requirements. In this paper, a method is presented to support the consumer by obtaining a set of sustainable household appliances on the market that suit their preferences, concerns, and needs. By using a case study to apply the approach developed here, a set of sustainable appliances from the market is obtained, where several benefits are achieved (e.g., energy and water consumption savings, avoidance of CO2 emissions) during the lifecycle of each appliance, chosen from the appliance’s industry.
- A decision support approach to provide sustainable solutions to the consumer, by using electrical appliancesPublication . Matias, João Carlos de Oliveira; Santos, Ricardo; Abreu, AntónioThe diversity of energy efficiency appliances existent on the market, with all its different issues, contributes to the existence of several tradeoffs (e.g., energy and water consumption vs.initial investment), which make the consumer’s choices in the market difficult. This becomes even more relevant, by knowing that nowadays a consumer tries to get a solution from the market, with a good compromise between the economic, social and environmental dimensions, and according to its priorities and specific needs, which can be different from other consumers. By adopting a multicriteria approach, combined with an optimization technique, based on evolutionary algorithms (EA), it will be possible to provide a set of sustainable solutions from the market to the consumer, that respects the compromise referred before. In this work, it will be presented an approach to support a decision-agent (DA) (consumer), by performing a set of sustainable choices based on electrical appliances, from the market and suitable to its needs. The method will be applied to a case study, to demonstrate its application. Regarding the obtained solutions, several savings are achieved (electrical and water consumption, CO2 emissions) by taking into account the consumer’s relative importance, regarding each dimension considered.