Drivers and obstacles for eco-innovation and its implications for achieving sustainability goals : A case study of a Swedish construction consultancy firm

During this study an early-stage calculation tool for climate impact and cost was developed to optimise the opaque building envelope’s climate footprint and the cost for these optimisations. The study investigates the drivers for sustainability efforts inside the studied construction consultancy firm and important considerations for implementations. Furthermore, the customer's perception of a company’s sustainability efforts was studied. This was studied with semi-structured interviews with consultants with different disciplines as well as studying an existing customer survey. The study showed that regulations, economic opportunities and the climate impact that the construction industry has are the main drivers within the company. It was also found that important factors for implementation are sufficient training, a clear context surrounding a new tool and ease of use. Lastly, it was found that consultants have a clear understanding that customers appreciate and strive for sustainability efforts and want to work with organisations that value sustainability. It was concluded that even though the construction industry is largely driven by market pull, mainly because of regulations from large governing bodies, an early calculation tool like the one developed during this research is more the result of a technology push made by the researched company to streamline operations and offer their customer effective solutions.