Title: The diffusion of green innovation technology in the construction industry: European passive house knowledge transfer to China

Authors: Fawzi Halila; Joakim Tell; Maya Hoveskog; Qi Lu

Addresses: School of Business, Engineering and Science, Centre for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Learning (CIEL), Halmstad University, Halmstad, 301 18, Sweden ' School of Business, Engineering and Science, Centre for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Learning (CIEL), Halmstad University, Halmstad, 301 18, Sweden ' School of Business, Engineering and Science, Centre for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Learning (CIEL), Halmstad University, Halmstad, 301 18, Sweden ' School of Business, Engineering and Science, Centre for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Learning (CIEL), Halmstad University, Halmstad, 301 18, Sweden

Abstract: The booming Chinese construction market has created both economic growth and environmental problems. Some 65,000 buildings in Europe have been constructed in accordance with the voluntary construction standard called Passive House that aims for energy efficiency. In China, however, by 2015, only 20 such projects were planned and only two Passive House projects were completed. In this paper, we identify and describe the barriers to the diffusion and adoption of Passive House construction in China. We review the relevant literature (Chinese and Western) and conduct two case studies of Passive House construction in China. Two broad groups of barriers - the bounded rationality of construction developers/managers and the high transaction costs of green innovation - are found to be most responsible for the slow diffusion and adoption of the Passive House concept in China. Unless these barriers are overcome, prospects for the advance of green technology in the Chinese construction market are unfavourable.

Keywords: innovation; barriers; bounded rationality; transaction costs; passive house; construction industry; china; technical risk.

DOI: 10.1504/PIE.2017.088867

Progress in Industrial Ecology, An International Journal, 2017 Vol.11 No.2, pp.164 - 181

Received: 23 Dec 2016
Accepted: 20 Jul 2017
Published online: 21 Dec 2017 *

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