IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolec/v136y2017icp240-254.html

Some searches may not work properly. We apologize for the inconvenience.

   My bibliography  Save this article

Adoption of Energy Efficiency Measures for Non-residential Buildings: Technological and Organizational Heterogeneity in the Trade, Commerce and Services Sector

Author

Listed:
  • Olsthoorn, Mark
  • Schleich, Joachim
  • Hirzel, Simon

Abstract

Drawing on agency theory and absorptive capacity literature, this paper empirically analyzes factors of adoption and barriers to adoption of four crosscutting, ancillary energy efficiency measures (EEMs) for non-residential buildings (efficient lighting, building insulation, heating system replacement, and optimization of heating system operations). The empirical analysis employs a large representative sample of organizations in the German trade, commerce and services sector. Results from econometric analyses provide evidence for a negative effect of principal–agent relationships (landlord-tenant; owner-user of energy supply equipment; parent-subsidiary) and for a positive effect of organizational attributes that contribute to absorptive capacity (energy manager in place; energy audit conducted; experience with decentralized low carbon energy). However, the significance of these effects varies by measure. For non-adopters, heterogeneity of crosscutting ancillary EEMs has little impact on the ranking of barriers to adoption. The most relevant barriers for all EEMs are rented spaces, high investment costs, and other priorities; least relevant are technical risk to production and risk to product quality. Finally, we find little evidence for differences in the factors of adoption and barriers to adoption between manufacturing and non-manufacturing organizations. These findings are robust to alternative model specifications.

Suggested Citation

  • Olsthoorn, Mark & Schleich, Joachim & Hirzel, Simon, 2017. "Adoption of Energy Efficiency Measures for Non-residential Buildings: Technological and Organizational Heterogeneity in the Trade, Commerce and Services Sector," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 240-254.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:136:y:2017:i:c:p:240-254
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2017.02.022
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800916306048
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2017.02.022?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kenneth Gillingham & Karen Palmer, 2014. "Bridging the Energy Efficiency Gap: Policy Insights from Economic Theory and Empirical Evidence," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 8(1), pages 18-38, January.
    2. Piet Eichholtz & Nils Kok & John M. Quigley, 2013. "The Economics of Green Building," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(1), pages 50-63, March.
    3. Martin, Ralf & Muûls, Mirabelle & de Preux, Laure B. & Wagner, Ulrich J., 2012. "Anatomy of a paradox: Management practices, organizational structure and energy efficiency," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 208-223.
    4. Goulden, Murray & Spence, Alexa, 2015. "Caught in the middle: The role of the Facilities Manager in organisational energy use," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 280-287.
    5. Friedemann Polzin & Paschen von Flotow & Colin Nolden, 2015. "Exploring the Role of Servitization to Overcome Barriers for Innovative Energy Efficiency Technologies – The Case of Public LED Street Lighting in German Municipalities," SPRU Working Paper Series 2015-07, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.
    6. Fleiter, Tobias & Hirzel, Simon & Worrell, Ernst, 2012. "The characteristics of energy-efficiency measures – a neglected dimension," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 502-513.
    7. Todd D. Gerarden & Richard G. Newell & Robert N. Stavins, 2017. "Assessing the Energy-Efficiency Gap," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 55(4), pages 1486-1525, December.
    8. Manuel Frondel & Colin Vance, 2013. "Heterogeneity in the Effect of Home Energy Audits: Theory and Evidence," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 55(3), pages 407-418, July.
    9. Nolden, Colin & Sorrell, Steve & Polzin, Friedemann, 2016. "Catalysing the energy service market: The role of intermediaries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 420-430.
    10. Kounetas, Kostas & Tsekouras, Kostas, 2008. "The energy efficiency paradox revisited through a partial observability approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 2517-2536, September.
    11. Sanja Pekovic, 2010. "The Determinants of ISO 9000 Certification: A Comparison of the Manufacturing and Service Sectors," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(4), pages 895-914.
    12. Thollander, Patrik & Danestig, Maria & Rohdin, Patrik, 2007. "Energy policies for increased industrial energy efficiency: Evaluation of a local energy programme for manufacturing SMEs," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(11), pages 5774-5783, November.
    13. Jaffe, Adam B. & Stavins, Robert N., 1994. "The energy paradox and the diffusion of conservation technology," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 91-122, May.
    14. René Kemp, 1997. "Environmental Policy and Technical Change," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1187.
    15. Pinkse, Jonatan & Kuss, Matthias J. & Hoffmann, Volker H., 2010. "On the implementation of a 'global' environmental strategy: The role of absorptive capacity," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 160-177, April.
    16. Trianni, A. & Cagno, E., 2012. "Dealing with barriers to energy efficiency and SMEs: Some empirical evidences," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 494-504.
    17. Frondel, Manuel & Horbach, Jens & Rennings, Klaus, 2008. "What triggers environmental management and innovation? Empirical evidence for Germany," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 153-160, May.
    18. Trianni, Andrea & Cagno, Enrico & Worrell, Ernst, 2013. "Innovation and adoption of energy efficient technologies: An exploratory analysis of Italian primary metal manufacturing SMEs," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 430-440.
    19. Anderson, Soren T. & Newell, Richard G., 2004. "Information programs for technology adoption: the case of energy-efficiency audits," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 27-50, March.
    20. George A. Akerlof, 1970. "The Market for "Lemons": Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 84(3), pages 488-500.
    21. Paul Diederen & Frank van Tongeren & Hennie van der Veen, 2003. "Returns on Investments in Energy-saving Technologies Under Energy Price Uncertainty in Dutch Greenhouse Horticulture," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 24(4), pages 379-394, April.
    22. Bengt Holmstrom, 1979. "Moral Hazard and Observability," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 10(1), pages 74-91, Spring.
    23. Tobias Fleitera & Joachim Schleich & Ployplearn Ravivanpong, 2012. "Adoption of energy-efficiency measures in SMEs - An empirical analysis based on energy audit data," Post-Print hal-00805748, HAL.
    24. Kostka, Genia & Moslener, Ulf & Andreas, Jan G., 2011. "Barriers to energy efficiency improvement: Empirical evidence from small-and-medium sized enterprises in China," Frankfurt School - Working Paper Series 178, Frankfurt School of Finance and Management.
    25. Stephen J. Decanio & William E. Watkins, 1998. "Investment In Energy Efficiency: Do The Characteristics Of Firms Matter?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 80(1), pages 95-107, February.
    26. de Almeida, Edmar Luiz Fagundes, 1998. "Energy efficiency and the limits of market forces: The example of the electric motor market in France," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(8), pages 643-653, July.
    27. HOLMSTROM, Bengt, 1979. "Moral hazard and observability," LIDAM Reprints CORE 379, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    28. Cagno, Enrico & Ramirez-Portilla, Andres & Trianni, Andrea, 2015. "Linking energy efficiency and innovation practices: Empirical evidence from the foundry sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 240-256.
    29. Trianni, Andrea & Cagno, Enrico & Farné, Stefano, 2016. "Barriers, drivers and decision-making process for industrial energy efficiency: A broad study among manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 1537-1551.
    30. Darnall, Nicole & Henriques, Irene & Sadorsky, Perry, 2008. "Do environmental management systems improve business performance in an international setting?," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 364-376, December.
    31. Wagner, Marcus, 2008. "Empirical influence of environmental management on innovation: Evidence from Europe," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(2-3), pages 392-402, June.
    32. Schleich, Joachim, 2009. "Barriers to energy efficiency: A comparison across the German commercial and services sector," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(7), pages 2150-2159, May.
    33. Gruber, Edelgard & Brand, Michael, 1991. "Promoting energy conservation in small and medium-sized companies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 279-287, April.
    34. Paramonova, Svetlana & Thollander, Patrik & Ottosson, Mikael, 2015. "Quantifying the extended energy efficiency gap-evidence from Swedish electricity-intensive industries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 472-483.
    35. Fuerst, Franz & McAllister, Pat, 2011. "Eco-labeling in commercial office markets: Do LEED and Energy Star offices obtain multiple premiums?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(6), pages 1220-1230, April.
    36. DeCanio, Stephen J, 1998. "The efficiency paradox: bureaucratic and organizational barriers to profitable energy-saving investments," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 441-454, April.
    37. Rohdin, P. & Thollander, P., 2006. "Barriers to and driving forces for energy efficiency in the non-energy intensive manufacturing industry in Sweden," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 31(12), pages 1836-1844.
    38. Stephen Decanio, 1994. "Agency and Control Problems in US Corporations: The Case of Energy-efficient Investment Projects," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 1(1), pages 105-124.
    39. Michael Lenox & Andrew King, 2004. "Prospects for developing absorptive capacity through internal information provision," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(4), pages 331-345, April.
    40. Cagno, E. & Worrell, E. & Trianni, A. & Pugliese, G., 2013. "A novel approach for barriers to industrial energy efficiency," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 290-308.
    41. Joachim Schleich, 2004. "Do energy audits help reduce barriers to energy efficiency? An empirical analysis for Germany," International Journal of Energy Technology and Policy, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 2(3), pages 226-239.
    42. Fleiter, Tobias & Schleich, Joachim & Ravivanpong, Ployplearn, 2012. "Adoption of energy-efficiency measures in SMEs—An empirical analysis based on energy audit data from Germany," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 863-875.
    43. Trianni, Andrea & Cagno, Enrico & De Donatis, Alessio, 2014. "A framework to characterize energy efficiency measures," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 207-220.
    44. Rohdin, Patrik & Thollander, Patrik & Solding, Petter, 2007. "Barriers to and drivers for energy efficiency in the Swedish foundry industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 672-677, January.
    45. Blumstein, Carl & Krieg, Betsy & Schipper, Lee & York, Carl, 1980. "Overcoming social and institutional barriers to energy conservation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 5(4), pages 355-371.
    46. Jaffe, Adam B. & Stavins, Robert N., 1994. "The energy-efficiency gap What does it mean?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(10), pages 804-810, October.
    47. Schleich, Joachim & Gruber, Edelgard, 2008. "Beyond case studies: Barriers to energy efficiency in commerce and the services sector," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 449-464, March.
    48. Aramyan, Lusine H. & Lansink, Alfons G.J.M. Oude & Verstegen, Jos A.A.M., 2007. "Factors underlying the investment decision in energy-saving systems in Dutch horticulture," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 94(2), pages 520-527, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jose García-Quevedo & Xavier Massa-Camps, 2019. "Why firms invest (or not) in energy efficiency? A review of the econometric evidence," Working Papers 2019/07, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    2. Olsthoorn, Mark & Schleich, Joachim & Wohlfarth, Katharina & Klobasa, Marian, 2019. "How much load flexibility can a euro buy? Findings from a contingent valuation experiment with companies in the German commerce and services sector," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(S1).
    3. Schleich, Joachim & Lehmann, Sascha & Cludius, Johanna & Abrell, Jan & Betz, Regina Annette & Pinkse, Jonatan, 2020. "Active or passive? Companies' use of the EU ETS," Working Papers "Sustainability and Innovation" S07/2020, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI).
    4. Kyriaki Psara & Christina Papadimitriou & Marily Efstratiadi & Sotiris Tsakanikas & Panos Papadopoulos & Paul Tobin, 2022. "European Energy Regulatory, Socioeconomic, and Organizational Aspects: An Analysis of Barriers Related to Data-Driven Services across Electricity Sectors," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-25, March.
    5. Cunha, Paulo & Neves, Sónia Almeida & Marques, António Cardoso & Serrasqueiro, Zélia, 2020. "Adoption of energy efficiency measures in the buildings of micro-, small- and medium-sized Portuguese enterprises11The financial support of the NECE - Research Unit in Business Science and Economics, ," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    6. Schubert, Torben & Breitschopf, Barbara & Plötz, Patrick, 2021. "Energy efficiency and the direct and indirect effects of energy audits and implementation support programmes in Germany," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    7. Lopion, Peter & Markewitz, Peter & Robinius, Martin & Stolten, Detlef, 2018. "A review of current challenges and trends in energy systems modeling," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 156-166.
    8. Schleich, Joachim & Faure, Corinne & Guetlein, Marie-Charlotte & Tu, Gengyang, 2019. "Conveyance and the moderating effect of envy on homeowners' choice of appliances," Working Papers "Sustainability and Innovation" S06/2019, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI).
    9. Schleich, Joachim & Fleiter, Tobias, 2019. "Effectiveness of energy audits in small business organizations," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 59-70.
    10. Ángeles Longarela-Ares & Anxo Calvo-Silvosa & José-Benito Pérez-López, 2020. "The Influence of Economic Barriers and Drivers on Energy Efficiency Investments in Maritime Shipping, from the Perspective of the Principal-Agent Problem," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-42, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Apriani Soepardi & Pratikto Pratikto & Purnomo Budi Santoso & Ishardita Pambudi Tama & Patrik Thollander, 2018. "Linking of Barriers to Energy Efficiency Improvement in Indonesia’s Steel Industry," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-22, January.
    2. Fleiter, Tobias & Schleich, Joachim & Ravivanpong, Ployplearn, 2012. "Adoption of energy-efficiency measures in SMEs—An empirical analysis based on energy audit data from Germany," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 863-875.
    3. Trianni, Andrea & Cagno, Enrico & Worrell, Ernst, 2013. "Innovation and adoption of energy efficient technologies: An exploratory analysis of Italian primary metal manufacturing SMEs," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 430-440.
    4. Trianni, Andrea & Cagno, Enrico & Farné, Stefano, 2016. "Barriers, drivers and decision-making process for industrial energy efficiency: A broad study among manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 1537-1551.
    5. Tobias Fleitera & Joachim Schleich & Ployplearn Ravivanpong, 2012. "Adoption of energy-efficiency measures in SMEs - An empirical analysis based on energy audit data," Post-Print hal-00805748, HAL.
    6. Cagno, E. & Worrell, E. & Trianni, A. & Pugliese, G., 2013. "A novel approach for barriers to industrial energy efficiency," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 290-308.
    7. Olsthoorn, Mark & Schleich, Joachim & Klobasa, Marian, 2015. "Barriers to electricity load shift in companies: A survey-based exploration of the end-user perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 32-42.
    8. Mette Talseth Solnørdal & Lene Foss, 2018. "Closing the Energy Efficiency Gap—A Systematic Review of Empirical Articles on Drivers to Energy Efficiency in Manufacturing Firms," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-30, February.
    9. Solnørdal, Mette Talseth & Thyholdt, Sverre Braathen, 2019. "Absorptive capacity and energy efficiency in manufacturing firms – An empirical analysis in Norway," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 978-990.
    10. Todd D. Gerarden & Richard G. Newell & Robert N. Stavins, 2017. "Assessing the Energy-Efficiency Gap," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 55(4), pages 1486-1525, December.
    11. Fredrik Backman, 2017. "Barriers to Energy Efficiency in Swedish Non-Energy-Intensive Micro- and Small-Sized Enterprises—A Case Study of a Local Energy Program," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-13, January.
    12. Jafarzadeh, Sepideh & Utne, Ingrid Bouwer, 2014. "A framework to bridge the energy efficiency gap in shipping," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 603-612.
    13. Schlomann, Barbara & Schleich, Joachim, 2015. "Adoption of low-cost energy efficiency measures in the tertiary sector—An empirical analysis based on energy survey data," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 1127-1133.
    14. Jalo, Noor & Johansson, Ida & Kanchiralla, Fayas Malik & Thollander, Patrik, 2021. "Do energy efficiency networks help reduce barriers to energy efficiency? -A case study of a regional Swedish policy program for industrial SMEs," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    15. Kalantzis, Fotios & Revoltella, Debora, 2019. "How energy audits promote SMEs' energy efficiency investment," EIB Working Papers 2019/02, European Investment Bank (EIB).
    16. Jose García-Quevedo & Xavier Massa-Camps, 2019. "Why firms invest (or not) in energy efficiency? A review of the econometric evidence," Working Papers 2019/07, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    17. Marlene Preiß, 2021. "Treiber und Hemmnisse betrieblicher Effizienzmaßnahmen – Vernetzung als Erfolgsfaktor [Drivers and barriers of operational efficiency measures—networking as a success factor]," NachhaltigkeitsManagementForum | Sustainability Nexus Forum, Springer, vol. 29(2), pages 93-106, June.
    18. Herrera, Bernardo & Amell, Andrés & Chejne, Farid & Cacua, Karen & Manrique, Raiza & Henao, Wilson & Vallejo, Gabriel, 2017. "Use of thermal energy and analysis of barriers to the implementation of thermal efficiency measures in cement production: Exploratory study in Colombia," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 140(P1), pages 1047-1058.
    19. Costa-Campi, María Teresa & García-Quevedo, José & Segarra, Agustí, 2015. "Energy efficiency determinants: An empirical analysis of Spanish innovative firms," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 229-239.
    20. Costa-Campi, María Teresa & García-Quevedo, José & Segarra, Agustí, 2015. "Energy efficiency determinants: An empirical analysis of Spanish innovative firms," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 229-239.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Energy efficiency; Barriers; Agency; Absorptive capacity; Adoption; SMEs;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q40 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - General
    • Q41 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Demand and Supply; Prices

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:136:y:2017:i:c:p:240-254. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.