Construction Innovation: Information, Process, Management

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a framework to assess the feasibility of fuel cells in both monetary and non-monetary terms. It aims to develop an index is to compare different sources of energy in the residential market of the rural Appalachian region of the USA.

Design/methodology/approach – An index is developed to measure sustainable criteria and the factors that influence the user's decision-making process of adopting an alternative energy. The sustainable criteria are obtained through a literature review, and the factors that influenced the decision-making process are found through surveys to individuals who may potentially adopt alternative energies. After the index is developed, it is used to compare fuel cells and the conventional grid system using the specific case of a typical rural house.

Findings – The most relevant sustainable criteria found in literature are environmental impact, energy consumption, and cost. The factors that influenced the user's decision to adopt an alternative energy are cost, environmental impact, space, reliability, and safety. Those factors are combined in an index used to compare fuel cells and the coal-fired grid system. According to the index, fuel cells have a slightly better rating than the grid system powered by a coal-fired power plant; however, further development of fuel cells will be needed in order to be fully competitive.

Research limitations/implications – The index developed is based on the rural Appalachian region of the USA. If the index is used in other locations, factors, and weights should be adjusted accordingly.

Practical implications – The framework discussed in the paper includes both the sustainable performance of the system, and the factors that influenced the user's decision to adopt an alternative energy. The latter has previously not been taken into consideration in the assessment of these types of technologies.

Originality/value – The factors considered in the paper will make a significant difference if alternative energies are to be considered as a viable alternative to traditional energy forms. The framework took a holistic approach, and considered factors such as cost, environment, energy consumption, reliability, maintenance, space and safety, that are deemed important by the final user.