Sum Diss

Doctoral Dissertation Research The Green Building Industry in California: From Ideology to Buildings Beth M. Duckles PLEASE DO NOT CITE OR REPRODUCE WITHOUT PERMISSION Project Summary: Intellectual Merit Rather than looking at why buildings are not built sustainably, this study seeks to understand why an increasingly visible number of commercial buildings are built sustainably. The rapidly growing green building market suggests that there is a need to look more closely at the mechanisms that account for market emergence. Going green is changing the types of buildings consumers want, the materials that builders use and the way in which architects design and think about buildings. The ideology behind this building trend is rooted in the environmental movement, and while it is clear that there is a relationship between the sustainable ideology and these market changes it is still unclear whether this ideological shift is demand or supply driven. To address this gap, this dissertation will examine the way in which the actors within a quickly shifting market promote, attack, implement or alter the ideals of sustainability and environmentalism in the face of established rules, norms, and traditions, i.e., institutions. As these actors respond to the changes in the market, there is an opportunity to examine not only market change, but also the mechanisms by which the ideology of a movement becomes integrated into the marketplace. When these market shifts are based on difficult to define concepts such as "sustainable" how do those definitions become institutionalized. When sustainable ideals undermine the typical business model, how do actors respond? This work will meet at the intersection of three literatures: social movements, organizational change and economic sociology. We will address the emergence of an embedded market, gain an understanding of the institutional shifts as a social movement outcome and discuss the relationship between the profit motive and the motive for organizations to be socially and environmentally responsible. To accomplish this, we propose to study how the environmental ideals are commensurated as new institutional standards emerge through the creation of the LEED building certification system, created by the US Green Building Council. The study will focus on LEED certified buildings in the state of California and in three phases gather research on builders and architects, organizational consumers and suppliers. Methods include participant observation, targeted interviews, and the gathering of document data on green buildings. Analysis will be conducted using a unique blend of narrative and process analysis. Broader Impacts Gaining an understanding of the formation of a market embedded within the larger commercial construction industry will contribute to the research on the growth and creation of markets. Examining how a market shifts in response to ideological origins, will give us a sense of the mechanisms that affect key actors within the industry and examine how that social movement ideology becomes institutionalized. This has implications for the social movements literature as a study of social movement outcomes that do not target the state. Additionally this has direct application for a social movement that seeks to integrate itself into the workings of social institutions as well as the study of change within social institutions themselves. Finally, green building is a case that involves the integration of business principles with the motives of environmental and sustainable ideologies. In this way it is a fascinating starting point for exploring the emergence of socially responsible and ecologically responsive organizations and will add to the literature of sector bending organizations and corporate social responsibility.