Development of a novel psychological model to predict the eco-block building adoption in Mauritius

Abstract

As a consequence of energy issues and societal dilemmas, building insulation like the eco-block technology has proven its usefulness to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve energy security and enhance the living conditions of building occupants. In Mauritius, the eco-block building material was introduced to improve the energy efficiency of conventional buildings. As observed, limited people's knowledge, poor communication with developers and lack of support from policymakers slow the adoption of the building technology. Mauritian residents are the important stakeholders as they are the final decision-makers of the building insulation. Given recent studies reported that green building adoption is rather psychological than technical, the research makes an original contribution to the literature by extending two consistent psychological frameworks (technology of acceptance model and theory of planned behaviour) and proposing a new framework for assessing the unexplored predictors on eco-block building adoption. A survey questionnaire was forwarded to Mauritian residents through the purposive sampling method to collect data, where 283 responses were useful to undergo structural equation modelling. The results disclosed that attitudes, perceived usefulness, social norm, perceived behavioural control, personal innovativeness, energy concern and price sensitivity have an impact on the acceptance of the eco-block building. Contrarily, subjective knowledge and organisational trust have no influence on the adoption intention. Instead, organisational trust affects behavioural intention indirectly through perceived usefulness. The outcome of this research can serve as a roadmap for relevant stakeholders to promote eco-block building usage in Mauritius.