A vague set fuzzy multi-attribute group decision-making model for selecting onsite renewable energy technologies for institutional owners of constructed facilities

Institutional owners of constructed facilities are increasingly recognizing onsite renewable energy generation as an effective way of reducing their facilities' negative impact on the environment, lowering utility bills, and improving the institution's public image. Situations often arise when owners are uncertain as to which renewable energy technology (RET) to adopt for maximum benefit. Appropriate selection of a RET for institutional owners should consider multiple attributes such as cost, reliability, environmental impact, and institutional-wide factors. Additionally, individual decision makers' opinions from across the institution should be collected and aggregated into a group consensus opinion. This paper proposes a vague set fuzzy multi-attribute group decision-making model to select the most appropriate RET for institutional owners. The proposed model integrates group rational behavior theory with vague set fuzzy theory. The group rational behavior theory is utilized to account for the varying level of expertise and opinions of decision makers. The vague set fuzzy theory is utilized because most of the collected opinions from decision makers involve fuzzy data and information. The paper discusses the RETs that are evaluated with the proposed model followed by the factors affecting the selection process. Subsequently, the proposed model is described and illustrated using a case study.