Thermal Comfort–Based Differential Pricing for High-Rise Apartments in Hot and Humid Climates: A Multicriteria Decision-Making Approach

Abstract

Amidst the prevailing subjective pricing paradigms for high-rise apartments in India, this paper advocates for a paradigm shift toward thermal comfort–based differential pricing, recognizing its pivotal role in influencing residents’ well-being in hot and humid climates and energy savings. Understanding the correlation between thermal comfort, floor level, and orientation can lead to implementing such pricing strategies. Three models are proposed through market surveys and simulations, incorporating thermal comfort and other existing market preferences using Hedonic regression and two models using the analytic hierarchy process. The comparison reveals that Model 1, based on buyers’ preferences, yields a 0.72% mean improvement in the total sale price, Model 2, focused on thermal comfort, sees a mean increase of 0.86%, and Model 3, incorporating both thermal comfort and buyer preferences, results in a mean increase of 2.22%. The study emphasizes the significance of a multicriteria-based pricing model for high-rise apartments with thermal comfort as the focus, highlighting its flexibility to accommodate diverse criteria and determine suitable differential prices by adjusting percentage priorities based on specific requirements.