 Overcoming barriers to sustainability: an explanation of residential builders' reluctance to adopt clean technologiesJonatan Pinkse and Marcel Dommisse Business Strategy and the Environment, 2009, vol. 18, issue 8, 515-527 Abstract: The construction industry has great opportunities to significantly reduce CO2 emissions by improving the energy efficiency of residential buildings. However, in this industry, diffusion of cost‐effective clean technologies has been notoriously slow and below potential. This paper sheds light on factors that explain why construction companies have been reluctant to adopt energy‐efficient technologies. It questions why some companies have intensified their investments in clean technologies, while others are lagging behind. Based on a multiple case study of four Dutch building contractors, the paper shows that contractors that actively gather information and build internal technical capacity are keener on adopting energy‐efficient technologies. Findings also reveal that it will be a major challenge for the construction industry to communicate the advantages of clean technologies to (potential) home buyers and create market demand. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. Date: 2009 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:18:y:2009:i:8:p:515-527 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from Access Statistics for this article Business Strategy and the Environment is currently edited by Richard Welford More articles in Business Strategy and the Environment from Wiley Blackwell |
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