Abstract
Voluntary environmental programs (VEPs) have become increasingly popular around the world to address energy efficiency issues that mandatory building codes have not been able to tackle. Even though the utility of voluntary schemes is widely debated, they have become a de facto reality for many professionals in the building and construction sector. One topic that is neglected, however, in both academic and policy discussions, relates to how professionals (architects, engineers, real estate developers, etc.) perceive the rise of voluntary rating schemes. In order to fill this gap in the literature, the present study investigates beliefs underlying adoption behavior regarding one of the most prominent voluntary assessment and certification programs in the U.S. building industry, the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) scheme. In this paper, an elicitation study, based on 14 semi-structured interviews with building professionals in the North East of the United States, was conducted to analyze this question. Building on the Reasoned Action Approach, this paper shows that, in addition to more conventional factors such as financial calculations and marketing aspects, the understanding of beliefs held by building professionals offers important insights into their decisions to work with Voluntary Environmental Assessment and Rating Programs.
Highlights
In both industrialized and developing countries, buildings have been found to be one of the major sources of greenhouse gas emissions and been linked to other environmentally damaging pollutants [1]
Beliefs were regrouped building on the underlying framework, the Reasoned Action Approach [4]
As stipulated by the Reasoned Action Approach [4], normative beliefs shape perceptions of norms and eventually influence intentions to engage in specific behaviors
Summary
In both industrialized and developing countries, buildings have been found to be one of the major sources of greenhouse gas emissions and been linked to other environmentally damaging pollutants [1]. According to the United States Energy Information Administration (EIA) carbon emissions of the non-residential building sector in the United States grew about 25% faster than carbon emissions of the overall economy between 1971 and 2004 [1]. To counter these developments, international organizations, national governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other third party actors have established voluntary programs to improve environmental and energy issues in the building sector. Both schemes are voluntary in nature and build on a partnership approach with actors in the building industry. Voluntary approaches fall in line with what Fiorino [2] calls a “social learning approach” to environmental policy that includes different groups of stakeholders and actors
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