A behavioral decision approach to understanding commercial sector energy efficiency investments

Paper submitted as part of the symposium proposal titled "Energy Transition Risks, Uncertainties and Societal Values" convened by Schweitzer and Pidgeon. Commercial buildings account for approximately 20% of total energy... [ view full abstract ]

Paper submitted as part of the symposium proposal titled "Energy Transition Risks, Uncertainties and Societal Values" convened by Schweitzer and Pidgeon.

Commercial buildings account for approximately 20% of total energy consumption in the United States. In recent years the federal government has expressed interest in reducing consumption in this sector, with President Obama announcing the Better Buildings Initiative in 2011 to make commercial buildings 30% more efficient over the next ten years. To date however only 4% of commercial buildings space has committed to this challenge. Much attention in the design of efficiency programs have been paid to economic factors that explain efficiency investment decision making, neglecting the potentially important role that social and psychological factors may play. Thus, in this research we ask: what other non-economic factors play a role in commercial building energy efficiency investments? Here we interview 20 commercial building owners/managers (decision makers) and energy experts (decision influencers) on motives and barriers to and social context of efficiency investments. Non-economic factors found to be important to decision making include views on Corporate Social Responsibility and the relationship between decision makers and decision influencers. Additional potentially important factors include how resistant decision makers are to change and whether the decision maker is using their own money (e.g. owner vs. manager). These findings suggest that accounting for the decision maker and the social context in which decisions are made could enhance the design of commercial sector energy efficiency programs.