Stakeholder studies and the social networks of NetZero energy homes (NZEHs)
Introduction
NetZero Energy Homes (NZEHs) have emerged as a promising solution able to alleviate the energy strain that residential buildings exert on limited natural resources, thereby reducing the detrimental impact on the environment. Referring to the common definition for a zero-energy building by the U.S. Department of Energy (2015), a NetZero Energy Home (NZEH) is defined as “a home which produces enough renewable energy to meet its own annual energy consumption requirements, thereby reducing the use of non-renewable energy in the residential building sector” (Li, Gül, Yu, Awad, & Al-Hussein, 2016). The NetZero Energy Home Coalition, which is a multi-stakeholder not-for-profit organization in North America, supports a long-term vision that all new homes in Canada will be built to meet net-zero energy standards by 2030 (Government of Canada, 2005). Various efforts to promote the development and marketing of NZEHs have been put forth. For instance, the NetZero Energy Home Coalition hosted a workshop to identify “paths to zero” in the areas of policy and grid, product and technology, driving market demand, education and tools, and finance and real estate (Winkelmann, 2013). Furthermore, numerous studies have been conducted on sustainable buildings, including NZEHs. Kylili and Fokaides (2015) discuss the role of zero energy buildings in achieving smart cities in Europe, and provide useful insights to achieve the vision. Becchioa, Corgnati, Delmastro, Fabi, and Lombardi (2016) analyze the role of nearly-zero energy buildings in the transition toward post-carbon cities, and point out two issues for energy-oriented city planning: including energy and cost-effective retrofits of existing buildings and the impacts of occupant behaviour. Muñnoz, Morales, Letelier, Muñnoz, and Mora (2017) conduct a lifecycle energy assessment of a nearly zero-energy building, and find that the building operation only accounts for 56% of the total lifecycle energy usage. Ferrari and Beccali (2017) propose strategies for retrofitting a public building toward a nearly zero-energy target, and conduct energy-environmental and cost assessment; the results reveal a potential to reduce energy and associated emissions by up to 40%. Furthermore, barriers hindering sustainable building implementation have also been identified (Kershaw and Simm, 2014, Lowe and Oreszczyn, 2008, Pan and Ning, 2015). However, Yang and Yang point out that “Problems of key housing stakeholders, particularly those designing, developing and marketing sustainable housing products, have not been studied systematically” (Yang & Yang, 2015). They use a combination of questionnaire and interview methods to identify the critical factors affecting the implementation of sustainable housing in Australia. Eriksson, Glad, Johansson (2015) study stakeholder involvement in residential building projects based on a focus group study, and affirm the importance and value of stakeholder involvement and communication. Considering that the successful implementation of urban energy planning strategies depends on the satisfaction of the stakeholders, Ouhajjou, Loibl, Fenz, and Tjoa (2017) propose a stakeholder-oriented energy planning support approach based on semantic web technologies; their proposed approach eases the progress of the energy planning process in cities. Prouty, Koenig, Wells, Zarger, and Zhang (2017) argue that waste water infrastructure is sustainable only when multiple stakeholder groups are involved, and propose a rapid assessment framework to model stakeholder involvement in infrastructure development. Wang, Ge, and Lu (2012) note that stakeholders can be identified through focus group or interview methods. Following stakeholder identification, stakeholders can be analyzed in terms of their power, interest, and influence, and, based on this analysis, strategies can be developed to improve stakeholder management and to implement project goals. Stakeholder mapping techniques are also proposed by researchers as a way to map the power/interest of stakeholders (Johnson and Scholes, 1999, Karl and Orwat, 1999).
Stakeholder studies have been applied broadly in construction and project management (Olander and Landin, 2005, Wang et al., 2012), and recently have been referenced in the realm of sustainability development (Herazo & Lizarralde, 2016; Karatas & El-Rayes, 2014; Liang, Shen, & Guo, 2015; Menassaa & Baer, 2014). However, it is found that no systematic stakeholder analysis has been conducted to identify stakeholders’ expectations and stakeholder relationships for NZEHs, which could be used to promote NZEHs. Currently, the following issues exist with regard to stakeholder interactions for NZEHs: (1) after the residential housing industry invests in the development of NZEHs, there are not enough home buyers expressing interest in buying NZEHs, which is an issue being encountered by the industry partner of this study; (2) building design professionals lack information and feedback regarding market acceptance (including expected energy performance and acceptable additional cost) for NZEHs; (3) stakeholders’ dedication to NZEHs and individual stakeholder contributions to promoting NZEHs are unknown; and (4) occupants lack knowledge about NZEH operation, while occupant behaviour has an impact on the actual energy performance of NZEHs. In addressing the issues listed above, a systematic stakeholder study for NZEHs is identified as a research gap. Therefore, the present research uses stakeholder analysis to identify the level of market acceptance and the impacts on stakeholders of NZEHs; the holistic knowledge gained through the study and analysis can be employed to promote NZEHs, and can be referred to during NZEH design.
Capitalizing on the importance of stakeholder studies and the existing research gaps, this research proposes a holistic framework for analysis of NZEH stakeholders, with focus group study, survey, and social network analysis utilized as the research methods. This research is conducted in collaboration with Landmark Group of Companies, an Alberta-based homebuilder and one of the leaders in the development of NZEHs in Alberta, Canada.
Section snippets
Research objective and methodology
The aim of this research is to propose a stakeholder study framework for NZEHs by which to improve stakeholder engagement and communication and to answer the following questions: how can NZEHs be promoted based on different influence and interest of stakeholders? What are the expectations of stakeholders with regard to an NZEH, e.g., acceptable energy performance and cost? What are the impacts of NZEHs on stakeholder relationships and on occupants? The detailed research objectives include: (1)
Focus group study and survey result analysis
Stakeholder influence, interest, and the dynamic changes over the lifecycle of a project are analyzed based on the focus group study, while the NZEH energy performance acceptance, stakeholder relationships, market acceptance, and impacts on occupants are studied based on the survey results.
Conclusions
Stakeholder engagement and effective communication are imperative for the promotion and advancement of energy-efficient buildings such as net-zero energy homes (NZEHs). However, information asymmetry and lack of systematic stakeholder analysis may hinder the market growth of NZEHs. This research proposes a holistic framework of stakeholder studies for NZEHs, by which stakeholder engagement and communication can be enhanced, thus improving the implementation of NZEHs. Through the application of
Acknowledgments
The authors are thankful to the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and Landmark Group of Companies for their support of this research (Grant no. CRDPJ 444868-12); the authors also wish to thank Mr. Dave Turnbull (Landmark Group of Companies) for facilitating the focus group study.
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