Decisions in the Construction Process of the Residential Building Environment: Development of a Static and Dynamic Model

The residential building environment accounts to a large extent for the emission of greenhouse gases. In Switzerland, 27% of the carbon dioxide emissions are generated for heating houses, providing warm water and electricity. The employment of state of the art energy efficient technologies can reduce these emissions
significantly. Why are the technologies not applied on a regular basis? In this paper, we focus on the decision process and the decisions taken which the individual building owner has to make at the end of the planning process for a house. The paper's contribution is multifold: systematization of important decisions during the planning process, development of static hypotheses of decision making based on psychological action research, enrichment of the static hypotheses by empirical research, and development of dynamic hypotheses to explain intention and behavior of individuals regarding energy efficiency. From a content point of view, the paper sheds light on the development of interlinked variables during the building planning process. From a methodological perspective, the paper adds to more traceability during the model conceptualization phase.