A new additive ratio assessment (ARAS) method in multicriteria decision-making

Abstract

Multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) methods are used in many areas of human activities. Each alternative in a multicriteria decision-making problem can be described by a set of criteria. Criteria can be qualitative and quantitative. They usually have different units of measurement and a different optimization direction. The normalization aims at obtaining comparable scales of criteria values. The paper introduces a new Additive Ratio ASsessment (ARAS) method. In order to illustrate the described ARAS method a real case study of evaluation of microclimate in office rooms is presented. The case study aims to determine the inside climate of the premises, where people work, and to define measures to be taken to improve their environment. Based on the analysis, the following criteria for inside climate evaluation are suggested: air turnover inside the premises, air humidity, air temperature, illumination intensity, air flow rate, and dew point. The criteria weights were determined by the method of pairwise comparison based on the estimates of experts.