Planning home energy retrofit in a social environment: The role of perceived descriptive and injunctive social norms

In the built environment, improving the energy efficiency of existing building stock through retrofitting is the top pillar to mitigate climate change. Despite the efforts made by local authorities to provide technical and financial supports, the home energy retrofit rate remains low. This study aims to improve the understanding of how homeowners make their energy retrofit plans in a social environment, thereby informing behavioural policy (re)design. Using a sample of inexperienced retrofitters among Dutch homeowners (N = 556), we investigate the relationship between perceived social norms and energy retrofit plans. The results show that homeowners who perceive a positive injunctive norm have an 11.8 percentage point higher probability of making a home energy retrofit plan compared to those with a non-positive perception. Perceived injunctive norms are also significantly associated with the number of planned retrofit measures and aligned with multiple direct barriers and motivations for retrofitting. However, perceived descriptive norms are only associated with the number of planned retrofit measures, and are even correlated with stronger perceived barriers. We conclude by discussing different social influence pathways of descriptive and injunctive norms, as well as the potential of leveraging social norms as a behavioural policy intervention to promote home energy retrofit.Design & Construction Managemen

Transaction Costs (TCs) in Building Regulations and Control for Green Buildings: Case Study of Hong Kong

About 40% of global energy consumption and nearly one-third of global CO2 emissions are on account of buildings. In Hong Kong, buildings consume up to 90% of electricity during construction and operation, where all the design and construction of private developments is subject to control under the BuildingsOrdinance. The way building regulations are applied and the arrangement of supporting systems can affect the effectiveness of building energy consumptions and the corresponding costs induced. Among all the incentives and regulatory instruments, Gross Floor Area (GFA) concession becomes a popular scheme to promote green building (GB), which grant bonus GFA to the developers who comply with the Sustainable Building Design Guidelines (SBDGs) and achieving at least the minimum level of BEAM Plus certification. Transaction costs (TCs) have been debated over the past decades that affect the effectiveness of the policy implementation. This study applies the lens of transaction costs theory to explore the TCs inventories of implementing GFA concession practice in Hong Kong. This paper aims to analyze how the GFA Concession Scheme induces TCs among various stakeholders in practice, and how in turn it affects the effectiveness of building control for GB. Interviews are conducted to identify the TCs determinants regarding the GFA Concession Scheme. Examples are provided from the real practice to illustrate the nature of TCs. Policy implications to reduce TCs are proposed accordingly.OLD Housing Quality and Process Innovatio

An Investigation of Occupants' Energy Perceptions in Energy Efficient Retrofitted Residential Buildings: A Review Paper

Buildings are the main sector in energy consumption and CO2 emissions. Retrofitting of existing building has been identified as one of the significant strategies for reducing the impacts of buildings on energy and environment. However, recent studies have shown that low energy buildings mostly do not perform as expected. These differences are related to different factors including the interaction between occupants and building technologies. Thus, most renovation initiatives have not considered occupant behavior equally to the energy efficiency process. Many of the existing studies have been focused on technological improvements rather than behavioral-related parameters. Hence, this study aims to review the literature on the occupants' energy perceptions and their behavioral interventions in energy efficient retrofitted residential buildings. The results of the literature review reveal that household's energy consumption significantly differs according to the various factors including social-economic, cultural, household composition as well as individual attitudes, habits, experiences, and occupant practices. Moreover, the energy consumption in the residential sector is highly dependent on demographic parameters. The demographics factors are classified according to type of family, level of income, age of the occupants, and individuals' educational status. The findings shows that energy perception gap formulates the energy behavior and it is related to the lack of personal interest, accurate information and individuals' awareness about how to consume efficiently. Therefore, it is suggested that the level of occupant's perception on energy, control, or comfort have to be considered during energy efficiency retrofits. The study contributes to understanding of occupants' behaviors which cause energy performance gap and enlighten approaches to encourage more energy efficient behavior. Design & Construction Managemen

Transaction costs (TCs) in green building (GB) incentive schemes: Gross Floor Area (GFA) Concession Scheme in Hong Kong

It is claimed that transaction costs (TCs) affect the effectiveness of any green building (GB) policy. However, few studies have empirically applied TC analysis to GB incentives, which normally should have analyzed the TCs borne by different stakeholders. These include TC typology and determinants during the implementation process, especially the extra administration process where TCs possibly may be incurred. The lack of such in-depth analysis tends to make incentive-design ignore efficiency and fairness amongst the stakeholders. This study aims to improve the efficiency of GB incentives through analyzing TCs borne by the private sector stakeholders. It would identify TC typologies and determinants, and TCs measurement and allocation to different stakeholders. As TCs are policy context-specific, this paper takes a popular GB incentive scheme, Gross Floor Area (GFA) Concession Scheme, as an example. Interviews were conducted with 20 industry experts to validate TCs types and determinants, and to gauge the magnitude of TCs borne by different stakeholders. These empirical evidences are helpful for policy-makers and practitioners to better understand the impacts of TCs, so as to improve the effectiveness of future incentive schemes. In addition, GB policy recommendations for Hong Kong are proposed and many of which are relevant to other countries.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.OLD Housing Quality and Process Innovatio

Boosting long-term-oriented thinking to promote home energy retrofit: A choice experiment

In the built environment sector, enhancing energy efficiency through energy retrofitting is a key strategy to mitigate climate change. Despite the efforts made by local municipalities to offer technical and financial support, the rate of home energy retrofit remains low. The decision to undertake home energy retrofit is complex for homeowners. It involves high upfront financial and nonfinancial costs, as well as various benefits over the long term. Substantial costs and ambiguous benefits may prevent homeowners from investing in retrofit measures. Moreover, existing research and policy interventions have rarely accounted for the nonfinancial costs of energy retrofitting. Therefore, this study aims to understand homeowners’ evaluation of nonfinancial transaction costs against financial upfront investment costs. To this end, we design a discrete choice experiment, in which recruited homeowners are presented with a series of decision-making scenarios where they must choose their preferred investment option from two alternatives, alongside the option to maintain the current status quo (no investment). For each retrofit package, we provide information on five attributes: upfront investment cost, time investment, disruption during implementation, energy bill savings, and energy independence. Furthermore, we investigate whether scalable behavioural interventions can be designed to boost homeowners' longtermoriented thinking, thereby increasing their tolerance to short-term costs. A treatment is designed to emphasise long-term financial and nonfinancial benefits of energy retrofitting. We expect that boosting long-term thinking will reduce the negative effects of upfront investment cost, time investment, and disruption on individual utilities, thus increasing homeowners’ preferences for energy retrofit investments.Design & Construction ManagementOrganisation & Governanc

Stakeholder Perceptions of Transaction Costs in Prefabricated Housing Projects in China

Prefabrication has the potential to improve the efficiency and sustainability of housing production. However, there are various challenges in the realization of prefabricated housing (PH) from the stakeholder's perspective. Transaction costs (TCs) theory provides a particular angle that explains the invisible costs within transactions. This study aims to explore how perceptions of TCs vary for stakeholder groups and show the potential to reduce TCs in China. The distribution of TCs related to stages and stakeholders was investigated by a literature study and validated by expert interviews. Further, an existing framework of TCs was adopted to conduct a questionnaire survey for collecting perceptions of TCs from six stakeholder groups. The findings show that assembly, detailed design, and design change are the most highlighted TCs of PH. In particular, the component supplierscomplained of TCs from the points of detailed design and hiring skilled labor. The local governmentemphasized TCs on monitoring and enforcement in assembly, architectural design, and component transportation. This research contributes to the construction management community by acknowledging stakeholders in understanding their TCs, which also inspires the policy makers to reduce significant TCs to smooth transactions for the future of China's PH market.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Housing Quality and Process InnovationPublic Commissionin

Analysis of Occupant Behaviours in Energy Efficiency Retrofitting Projects

This review of studies into Energy Efficiency Retrofitting (EER) has shown the practice of EER to be a key factor in sustainability regeneration. Thus, the retrofitting practice itself (the way it is organised) has received increasing attention from both practitioners and researchers, and studies are now addressing some issues that are affecting the retrofit level of achievement. Most of the risks which lead to low retrofit development are related to owners. This paper aims highlight the role of the occupants in achieving the goals of EER. It is found that: a) the early involvement of occupants in the design and construction stage, b) mutual engagement, and c) an integral approach that involves the occupants are the key to motivate EER decisions from these same occupants. It follows that this involvement, including the demographic characteristics of the occupants, such as their culture, habits, preferences, awareness towards energy saving and socio-economic factors, are indeed effective in influencing the energy-related behaviours of these occupants. Moreover, other factors, such as space-heating behaviour, presence/absence of the occupants, control level of the equipment and window, and lighting control behaviour, are all effective factors in the energy performance of the buildings. Hence, socio-technical advancements, co-design processes and effective energy efficiency policies are recommended strategies to: a) improve occupants’ behaviours; and b) increase their participation in EER projects.Design & Construction Managemen

An analysis of urban renewal decision-making in China from the perspective of transaction costs theory: the case of Chongqing

In China, there is a growing number of urban renewal projects due to the rapid growth of the economy and urbanization. To meet the needs of urban development, urban renewal requires a sound decision-making approach involving various stakeholder groups. However, current urban renewal decision-making is criticized for poor efficiency, equity, and resulting in many unintended adverse outcomes. It is claimed that high-level transaction costs (e.g., a great deal of time spent on negotiation and coordination) are the factors hidden behind the problems. However, few studies have analyzed urban renewal decision-making in a transaction costs perspective. Using the case of Chongqing, this paper aims at adopting transaction costs theory to understand the administrative process of urban renewal decision-making in China. This research focuses on four key stakeholder groups: municipal government, district government, local administrative organizations, and the consulting parties. A transaction costs analytical framework is established. First, the decision-making stages of urban renewal and involved key stakeholder groups are clarified. Second, the transactions done by different stakeholder groups in each stage is identified, thus to analyze what types of transaction costs are generated. Third, the relative levels of transaction costs among different stakeholder groups were measured based on the interview. The empirical analysis reveals how transaction costs occur and affect urban renewal decision-making. Finally, policy implications were proposed to reduce transaction costs in order to enhance urban renewal.Housing Quality and Process InnovationHousing Institutions & Governanc

Applicability of ‘Aging in Place’ in redeveloped public rental housing estates in Hong Kong

Rapidly aging society is a global phenomenon with serious societal impact. With the rapid growth in the aging population in Hong Kong, it is foreseeable that every flat unit will accommodate one senior citizen. To address this looming problem, the Hong Kong Government has introduced several aged friendly home design elements and care facilities to redeveloped public rental housing estates. This study aimed to investigate the implementation of the “aging in place” philosophy, through evaluating the applicability and effectiveness of those facilities. A redevelopment project, the Un Chau Estate in Hong Kong was selected as a case study. Ecological theory is applied to evaluate the case study at micro, meso and macro scales. The methodological approaches include (a) a questionnaire survey, (b) face-to-face group discussions and (c) in-depth interviews. Results reveal that senior satisfaction levels with the new elements investigated were below the levels of perceived importance. In particular, the seniors emphasized the lack of a sense of home and privacy in their residences. They were, however, moderately satisfied with the independence and dignity and comfort and health elements. The results also reveal that the provision of common facilities is not up to standard in meeting the needs of the elderly. The majority of the elderly consistently opined that aging in place is their priority. To some extent, the extreme case of Hong Kong as a showcase of a dense populated aged Asian city, sheds light on how public housing (re)development can be designed to facilitate aging in place. A more comprehensive and refined approach at micro, meso, and macro scales is necessary to guarantee the satisfactory implementation of aging in place.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.OLD Housing Quality and Process Innovatio

Factors influencing transaction costs of prefabricated housing projects in China: developers' perspective

Purpose: The recent promotion of prefabricated housing (PH) in China has resulted in a prosperous period for its implementation. However, transaction costs (TCs) cause low economic efficiency to stakeholders and hinder the further promotion of PH. No relevant study has yet been made to investigate the TCs and their causes in the PH field. This paper identifies critical TCs and explores the influencing factors from the developers' perspective. Design/methodology/approach: Semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire survey were used to collect data about TCs and influencing factors. The most influential factors are identified with their impacts on particular TCs, yielded from correlation analysis and logistic regression. Findings: From the developers' perspective in China's PH market, this study identified that the most concerning sources of TCs are: hidden costs arising from disputes, extra workloads from design changes, learning costs, intensive communication and coordination in assembly and unexpected information costs in decision-making. The use of an ordered logistic regression approach indicates that the four most influential factors are: qualification of the general contractor, mandatory local policies, owner type and competitiveness of the developer. Practical implications: To reduce the TCs, experiencing learning and ensuring the design scheme's complicity are recommended to save information searching and exchanging costs. The implications for the PH developers are for them to: (1) professionalize their own organization and (2) procure high-qualified general contractors. For the policymakers, this means they should improve the clarity of the mandatory local policies for PH step-by-step. Originality/value: By applying the TCs economic theory, this study explores factors that influence TCs in the PH industry. It sheds light on the influencing mechanism behind the TCs in the context of prefabricated housing.Housing Quality and Process InnovationPublic Commissionin