Societal impact and benefits from advances in knowledge and technology depend upon the adoption and diffusion of actual product and process innovations in the marketplace. New business models and financing models are needed to overcome divergences between social and private rates of return on green building investments. Laws, regulations, and enforcement mechanisms are critical public policy drivers for technology adoption and diffusion. Similarly, behaviorally informed tools for public policy such as choice architecture, default rules, norms, simplification, and information are critical to shaping technology adoption and diffusion.

Goals

• Utilize our database of product and technology introductions to better understand the rate of technological change in the building industry and the factors that influence technology adoption and diffusion
• Develop economic models for drivers of innovation and technology adoption relating to incentives, government policies, and individual and business behavior
• Create cost-benefit studies that assess the potential returns to firms that adopt technologies that improve building performance 
• Analyze ways to shape incentives and behavior of individuals in buildings to support better building performance outcomes