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Overcoming the Social and Psychological Barriers to Green Building

University of Michigan, ajhoff{at}umich.edu

Rebecca Henn

University of Michigan

The green building movement has overcome formidable, technical, and economic hurdles in recent years, yet adoption of green building practices within the design and construction field remains low. Major corporations now offer products and services at a scale that is bringing costs down to competitive levels, but environmental sustainability in building design and delivery remains at the early stages of the adoption s-curve. This article argues that environmental progress in the building design and construction industry will continue to stall if the significant social and psychological barriers that remain are not addressed. After surveying the three levels of barriers—individual, organizational, and institutional—the article concludes with strategies for overcoming them. Seven specific strategies are elaborated, namely, issue framing, targeting the right demographic, education, structural and incentive change, indemnifying risk, green building standard improvements, and tax reform.

Key Words: institutional theory • individual biases • corporate environmentalism • organizational culture and structure • organizational and institutional change • organizational innovation • built environment • LEED certification • green building movement • sustainable business.

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Organization & Environment, Vol. 21, No. 4, 390-419 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1086026608326129


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Hoffman, A. J. Articles by Henn, R. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?