Matching management of supply and demand of green building technologies based on a novel matching method with intuitionistic fuzzy sets

Although green building technologies (GBTs) have been advocated to address sustainability issues, their transfer from academic research institutions to building enterprises is still plagued with barriers. For reducing transfer barriers between suppliers and users of GBTs, a practical matching method of the key issues influencing its progress is crucial. While numerous studies have examined the issues influencing GBTs transfer in general, few have been specifically conducted on matching methods for matching supply and demand of GBTs. This study aims to propose an efficient and practical matching decision making method for matching management of GBTs supply and demand based on intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IFS) and considering interactions among aspiration criteria. First, a framework for two-sided matching of GBTs exchange is established. In the framework, IFS theory is used to express the matching aspiration of suppliers and users of GBTs. Moreover, numerous aspirations are transformed into integrated aspirations by intuitionistic fuzzy geometric weighted Heronian mean (IFGWHM) operator considering interactions among aspiration criteria. Furthermore, a two-sided matching model is proposed based on the score matrices calculated using the integrated aspirations. And then the model is converted into a single-objective optimization model by a linear weighted method. Finally, a case study demonstrates that the proposed approach can be applied to real-world GBTs trading and yields matching results that are more consistent with the reality. This study adds to the green building literature by analyzing matching management of supply and demand of GBTs, which could help policy makers take suitable matching measures to improve the success rate of GBTs matching and thereby promote the GBTs transfer from academic research institutes to building enterprises. This research also improves and extends the applications of the two-sided matching theory in the technology transfer paradigm. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.