Behaviour change in the sustainable built environment

Humans are always driven by their sensation of adequate comfort. Occupants’ behaviour is important in the built environment as it affects the building performance and the indoor comfort requirements. The built environment industry is moving towards high-performance buildings. However, high-performance buildings often fail to achieve ‘as-designed performance’. It is due to occupant behaviour. The purpose of the paper was to investigate the theoretical background of behavioural economics and its relevance in developing sustainable human behaviour in a building’s lifecycle.
Behaviour Economics uses the combined knowledge of psychology and economics to analyse and understand human behaviour. It has been successfully used to influence human behaviour in consumer markets, healthcare and insurance policies. This study explains six behavioural anomalies along with their applications in different industries. Behavioural anomalies such as Status Quo Bias, Incentives and Social Norms have been applied in consumer industry to create a positive impact on human behaviour. It concludes by highlighting the potential of applying behaviour economics in built environment and influencing occupant behaviour towards eco-friendly behaviour. This research study is a part of a research endeavour to develop strategies for office buildings’ operation to change human behaviour towards more eco-friendly behaviour. It will be useful for built environment professionals to use these literature findings in design and operation strategies of an office building. It also provides a good initial research note for researchers working in the field of sustainable human behaviour.