Trigger point adoption: Ownership change as a factor in the adoption of ground source heat pumps in residential buildings
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Journal Title
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Volume Title
Insinööritieteiden korkeakoulu |
Master's thesis
Authors
Date
2019-06-17
Department
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Master's Programme in Creative Sustainability (CS)
Language
en
Pages
69 + 2
Series
Abstract
Small-scale renewable energy technologies (S-RET) adoption has become a popular area of study in order to aid global transition towards a sustainable built environment through the reduction of greenhouse gases. Factors attributed to this adoption process are quite extensive. However, within these studies, ownership is often either viewed as a static concept that can serve as a barrier when the home conditions are not ideal or includes the fluidity of changing ownership as a threat for the possibility of loss in investment. However, by aligning S-RET adoption studies with the concept of trigger points, which are key moments in the building history when energy upgrades can be performed, then a new understanding of ownership change emerges as a significant opportunity for improving the energy efficiency of the existing building stock through 'trigger point S-RET adoption'. This summarizes the theoretical framework which guide this thesis and is the basis of the research questions it aims to answer. The first finding of this thesis confirmed that the occurrence of ownership change after 2009 increases the likelihood of subsequent S-RET adoption in the residence by 1.8x. This result is established through a confirmatory binomial logistic regression model utilizing data on ground source heat pump installations, building information, and buildings sales for detached homes in Espoo, FI. Therefore, not only does this result confirm that ownership change is an important factor when considering adoption theory, it warrants a further exploration into the concept of ownership change serving as a trigger point for S-RET adoption. The second finding grows upon the identification of trigger point adoption evident in the data as occurring within two years following ownership change. By applying these cases of trigger point adoption as the dependent variable in an exploratory binomial logistic regression model, a clearer understanding of what leads to trigger point adoption emerges. This model utilizes only those buildings which have experienced ownership change after 2009 in order to establish the significant differences between the characteristic of the building at the time of the sale. The results find that the likelihood of trigger point adoption occurring is positively affected by the increase in age of the building, the occurrence of the sale in 2013 and 2014, and negatively affected by the residence being classified as being in “good” condition. A clearer picture of who the trigger point adopter is emerges from these results and how this relates to the existing understanding presented in current research and policy. Finally, these findings are discussed for their implications for the existing building stock, intermediaries, policy, theory, and future research.Description
Supervisor
Junnila, SeppoThesis advisor
Juntunen, JouniKeywords
S-RET adoption, trigger points, ownership change, GSHP, energy efficiency, existing building stock