FACTORS ENABLING AND INHIBITING SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGIES IN CONSTRUCTION: THE CASE OF ACTIVE SOLAR HEATING SYSTEMS

Abstract

The domestic building sector across Europe accounts for around 40% of total energy consumption. Mitigation strategies for greenhouse gas emissions have focused on improving the energy efficiency of buildings, both in terms of electricity use and space heating. In addition to improving the thermal properties of the building envelope and developing mechanisms to encourage energy conservation, the use of new energy technologies in new build and retro-fit residential buildings has the capacity to reduce significantly energy consumption. Active solar heating (ASH) systems are one such technology, suitable for widespread use across new and existing buildings in the housing stock, which have the potential to make a significant contribution to sustainable building and regeneration. Their generally slow adoption can be attributed to high capital cost and unknown cost effectiveness, but these factors do not adequately explain considerable differences between European countries in the take-up of new sustainable technologies in construction. This suggests that there are sets of more important factors and institutions inhibiting or facilitating their adoption. This paper examines the structural and institutional factors behind these differentials and draws implications for the management of innovation by construction firms and government policy for those countries under-exploiting the potential of ASH systems. Regulation, legislation and fiscal and financial incentives can encourage innovation and can help to promote solar technology. For countries such as the UK and France, lessons can be learned from the fixed price schemes, direct capital grant support, tax incentives and other such initiatives employed in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden. However, manufacturers and suppliers of ASH systems cannot be considered independently of other firms along the building chain. By raising the visibility of the adoption of this sustainable technology, construction firms can benefit their organisations from the reputation for installing this innovation, while confining the risk to this particular technology. Government can also play a role in increasing the capacity of construction firms to identify appropriate sustainable technologies and evaluate their potential costs and benefits.