Behavioral barriers to sustainable retrofits

10 juni 2022 16:00 t/m 17:00 - Locatie: Zoom - Door: Social Innovation in the Energy Transition | Zet in mijn agenda

Topic

Owner-occupied housing accounted for more than 50% of the housing stock in the Netherlands. In this sector, homeowners are fully responsible for the implementation of energy retrofits. The processes of energy retrofitting are complex, and homeowners face many issues beyond the costs such as finding financial support, reliable information, and contractors. The complexity of implementing energy retrofits may discourage homeowners from continuing the process and achieving the expected benefits. Behavioural aspects and transaction costs (TC) are among the most important factors influencing consumer decision-making processes. Behavioural factors primarily illustrate a range of personal, contextual, and external factors that influence the decision-making process of homeowners. These consist of cognitive awareness and biases, attitudes and beliefs, experience and skills, homeowner characteristics, sociodemographic characteristics, property characteristics, and the behaviour of others. TC are any hidden costs that influence decision making but are not included in the direct physical costs of renovation services and products. The purpose of this webinar is to unfold the impacts of behavioural factors and TC that impede the decision-making process for energy retrofits.

Shima Ebrahimigharehbaghi

Shima Ebrahimigharehbaghi obtained a Master of Science in Engineering and Policy Analysis at Delft University of Technology. After completing her master’s degree, she was eager to continue her research, and to apply her educational background in economics, especially in the field of sustainability. In 2018, she started her PhD under the supervision of Prof. Dr. ir. H.J. Visscher, Dr. Queena K, and Dr. Gerdien de Vries. Qian. In parallel with her PhD, she worked on other projects related to energy efficiency in the building sector and has the privilege to work under the supervision of Prof. L. Itard, Prof. Marja Elsinga, and Dr. Harry van der Heijden. These projects, IEA EBC Annex 70 – Building Energy Epidemiology and Housing 4.0 Energy projects, later led to publications in various journals.

Queena K. Qian

Queena K QIAN is an Associate Professor at Department of Management in Built Environment, Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, Delft University of Technology. Before this appointment, She was employed as Research Assistant Professor at Building and Real Estate Dept., the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Her PhD thesis, entitled “Barriers to Promote Building Energy Efficiency- A Transaction Costs Perspective”, which has been awarded the Faculty’s best thesis award at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 2012. Her research has received her international awards: e.g., Delft Technology Fellow (2014), Endeavour Australian Cheung Kong Fellow (2013), Australia, and Fulbright recipient (2010) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at UC Berkeley, USA. During her PhD, she has received invitation from Prof. Douglas North, 1993 Nobel Laureate Economist, for six-month research with him on the application of transaction costs theory into sustainable building research at Washington University in St Louis, the USA in 2010. Her research interests are green building promotion, building energy renovation, urban renewal, age-friendly design, governance and incentive schemes, etc., using behavioural science approach and transaction costs theory. Since 2015, she has been the editor of the Journal of Housing and the Built Environment. Since 2018, she has been the Honorary Fellows at The University of Hong Kong Ronald Coase Centre for Property Rights Research (RCCPRR).