King, L M; Booth, C A and Lamond, J E (2014) Benefits and limitations of social practice theory to evaluate practices in sustainable office buildings: Preliminary findings. In: Raiden, A and Aboagye-Nimo, E (eds.) Proceedings of 30th Annual ARCOM Conference, 1-3 September 2014, Portsmouth, UK.
Abstract
Despite the acknowledgement that buildings are a major consumer of natural resources, the gap between design and operational building performance continues to present a challenge to both the construction industry and building occupants. Occupant behaviour is recognised as a significant factor in understanding operational performance. Approaches rooted in psychology have typically been adopted to understand behaviour and develop interventions, with the 'individual' as the focus of analysis. Social Practice Theory (SPT) provides an alternative means of appraising the dynamics between elements which converge to form practices impacting on the operational performance of the building, moving the focus of analysis from the individual to the practice. The building features designed to support sustainable behaviour are therefore considered as material elements embedded in wider social systems and not simply as physical features designed to determine behaviour. The benefits and limitations of a social practice approach in this context are appraised through the analysis of research undertaken in BREEAM Excellent certified office buildings considering the practice of moderating comfort. Findings demonstrate that SPT provides an opportunity to contextualise the physical features of sustainable office buildings and permits a more complex analysis of 'why' and 'how' workplace routines and practices are undertaken.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | behaviour change; green buildings; social practice theory; sustainability |
| Index terms: | social practice theory, routine, behaviour change, office building, natural resource, social system, building performance, BREEAM accreditation, social practice, comfort, green building, sustainable office building, dynamics, occupant behaviour, construction industry, psychology |
| Subjects: | health behaviours and lifestyles, construction type, environmental resource management, environmental policy, social theory, design practice, theoretical framing, behavioral psychology, quality assurance, systems engineering, industry analysis, sociology, occupational health and safety management |
| Topics: | Organizational Design, Quality Management, Design Practice, Construction Technology, Sustainability, Research Practice, Engineering Principles, Health and Safety |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCT |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here