Understanding the decision process: Translating low-carbon aspirations into reality through a qualitative building case study

Unofficial AI-generated summary based on the public title and abstract. Not an official translation.

🔬研究者:This paper provides a qualitative methodological approach to studying implementation gaps in low-carbon building, offering insights on the interplay between technical certifications and decision-making dynamics.

🏢実務担当者:Corporate sustainability teams can learn from the case's success factors (clear metrics, reputation, champions) and barriers (skills gaps, financial prioritization) to better design their own low-carbon project governance.

🏛政策担当者:The finding that stronger regulation is the surest way to spur culture change and skills development supports the case for mandatory whole life carbon reporting and performance standards.

Abstract Growing climate change concerns necessitate the rapid reduction of buildings’ carbon footprints. However, implementation has so far lagged behind targets, and individual project aspirations often fail to be achieved in practice. Academic research has predominantly been focussed on the quantitative assessment of what could be achieved; more qualitative research to understand what happens and why in real-world building projects is essential to support the swift reduction of whole life carbon. This paper describes a qualitative case study of a large student accommodation development at a UK university. Semi-structured interviews with project stakeholders are analysed to understand why one particular low-carbon aspiration, for Passivhaus certification, was successfully retained through the project, while others, including for low embodied carbon, were dropped. The study finds that the Passivhaus aspiration was retained because it: offered a clear enhancement of the client’s reputation, was based on a reassuring stock of precedents, offered clear targets and metrics, and necessitated the inclusion of Passivhaus professionals throughout the project who helped ensure that the aspiration was achieved. It was also helped by a strong university culture of sustainability and the persistence of a number of conscientious ‘sustainability champions’. At the same time, these factors were not enough to retain other low-carbon aspirations, which were hindered by and eventually dropped due to a number of issues, including: oppositional construction industry dynamics, industry skills gaps, the prioritisation of finance over carbon, a lack of clear whole life carbon regulation, and systemic factors that limited the ‘voice’ of some individuals in decision-making processes. The paper concludes that, while select lessons from the Passivhaus approach could be applied to other low-carbon aspirations to increase their implementation, stronger regulation might be the surest way to spur on the culture change and skills development essential for implementation and directly promote whole life carbon reduction at a scale and speed commensurate with the climate crisis.

• openalex https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1615/1/012041first seen 2026-05-29 05:02:56 · last seen 2026-05-31 05:22:39