A Quantitative Investigation on Awareness of Renewable Energy Building Technology in the United Arab Emirates

Abstract

Sustainability in architecture engages a wide range of considerations in the light of the significant negative impact of buildings on the environment. One aspect of research in this parlance engages the technological and the social dimensions of building innovation, which promote the use of renewable technology as a mitigation strategy. The challenge, however, is that the end-users or building clients do not always have sufficient awareness and information regarding these technologies to guide their decision to accept it. Consequently, the diffusion of said innovations is slow, and the environmental or building problems they were invented to solve persist at the expense of both humanity and the environment. This study, therefore, focuses on a quantitative investigation to ascertain the level of awareness and interest of residents in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) as an example of renewable energy-based building technology. In this study, 289 residents participated, following the distribution of a questionnaire to demographically distinct individuals. This distinction was used in the analysis to highlight different groups such as, gender, generations, and occupational background of the respondents. The findings of the study show, firstly, that there is a high level of awareness of BIPV in the sample. The study also shows that comparing awareness with each of these demographic variables produced a second layer of findings. For example, the statistical analysis showed that there is no significant difference between the level of awareness and any of the demographic characteristics of the study participants. However, there is a significant statistical difference (p = 0.000) between awareness and interest in BIPV. In concluding this study, recommendations for further research that elaborates other statistical variables and tests, as well as a follow-up qualitative investigation are planned and outlined for future studies. The findings of this investigation may be of benefit to researchers, policy makers, as well as energy companies and marketing agencies within and outside the region.

Proposing an Approach for the Diffusion of Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPVs)—A Case Study

“…The first objective of this research is to provide a quantitative representative sample of Ghanaians on BIPV awareness. Contrary to the study conducted by Albattah and Attoye [77], where most respondents (92.4%) were fully aware of BIPV, our results prior to the introduction of the awareness tools indicate a very low rate of awareness in Ghana (18%). However, after sensitizing the respondents, awareness increased from 18% to 79.5%.…”

“…And are Ghanaians willing to adopt BIPV after being made aware? Although not in the same context, essential components of the answers to these questions are highlighted in similar research conducted by Goh et al [75] in Malaysia, Rababah et al [76] in Southeast Asian countries and Albattah and Attoye [77] in the United Arab Emirates.…”

Awareness and perception of the environmental sustainability of the UAE University campus: a case study of sustainability course

“…For this study, the data collected were analysed by using Pearson's chi-square test to identify trends or patterns (Hintze, 2021). The assumptions and analysis steps taken are similar to other recent studies (Albattah et al, 2019;Albattah and Attoye, 2021;Kristina et al, 2021) using the SPSS statistical software. The Pearson's chi-square test for independence was conducted and used to identify if any statistical differences exist between the studied variables using the following formula:…”

Assessment of Awareness and Willingness to Adopt Solar Energy in Ghana – Perspective from End Users

“…Famous among these theories are the Diffusion of Innovation (DOI), Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Uni ed Theory of Acceptance and use of Technology, and Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) [44], [40]. Figure 2 shows various theories often linked to product adoption and acceptance.…”