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This paper presents an approach where a survey study is combined with energy and indoor environment auditing in the built environment. The combination of methods presented in this paper is one way to obtain a wider perspective on the indoor environment and energy use and also let the people in the building voice their comments on the indoor environment. This is arguably even more important in historic buildings where many of the physical properties are to a higher degree unknown when compared with conventional buildings. The purpose of the paper is to report the experiences from this research project.

A combination of energy and indoor environment auditing and standardized occupant surveys.

The main findings in the paper are related to the good agreement between results from standardized occupant surveys and physical measurements. The possibility to triangulate problems related to poor indoor conditions was shown to be one main advantage of the combined methodology presented in the paper. A standardized survey approach also allows benchmarking, in this case with two groups representing “average” buildings as well as a group representing well-functioning buildings. The use of records from building key cards was also shown to be an effective way of keeping track of activity in the building and thereby distribute internal gains. In addition, the paper reports a linear correlation between activity level and electricity use.

The paper shows an effective way to investigate the performance, in terms of energy use as well as indoor environment, of historic buildings in use. This type of approach could benefit property owners, as it both allows benchmarking as well as investigating individual properties before, e.g., a refurbishment.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how the Andersen implosion over Enron impacted Fortune 500 firms that were competitors of Enron and/or audited by Andersen. This event provides an opportunity to study various contagion effects.

An event study methodology is used to analyze the immediate financial impact of the Andersen implosion on competitors of Enron and/or firms audited by Andersen. More specifically, how did the announcement of the implosion impact these firms?

The results support a strong industry contagion effect where Enron's failure benefited the surviving energy/utility firms who could then increase their market shares. The authors find the energy/utility firms not audited by Andersen, on average, experienced an astounding 2.5 percent increase in market capitalization when the audit scandal was announced. In dollar terms, the mean and median market capitalization increases were $226 million and $101 million, respectively. In the aggregate, the 21 utility/energy firms gained $4.76 billion in market capitalization.

The results show the importance of the auditing process and the impact of unethical actions on the firm, their auditor, and their competitors. One limitation is the data are limited to large Fortune 500 firms.

This is the first study, to the authors' knowledge, that evaluates the contagion effect of the Andersen/Enron audit scandal on Fortune 500 firms: in the same industry as Enron; audited by Andersen; and operating in the same industry as Enron and audited by Andersen.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the results of energy audit reports and defines most favourable characteristics of system, which is energy consumption of buildings, and most favourable factors affecting these characteristics in order to modify and improve them.

Grey set theory has the advantage of using fewer data to analyse many factors, and it is therefore more appropriate for system study rather than traditional statistical regression which requires massive data, normal distribution in the data and few variant factors. So, in this paper grey clustering and entropy of coefficient vector of grey evaluations are used to analyse energy consumption in buildings of the Oil Ministry in Tehran. Grey clustering in this study has been used for two purposes: First, all the variables of building relate to energy audit cluster in two main groups of indicators and the number of variables is reduced. Second, grey clustering with variable weights has been used to classify all buildings in three categories named “no standard deviation”, “low standard deviation” and “non-standard”. Entropy of coefficient vector of grey evaluations is calculated to investigate greyness of results.

According to the results of the model, “the real building load coefficient” has been selected as the most important system characteristic and “uncontrolled area of the building” has been diagnosed as the most favourable factor which has the greatest effect on energy consumption of building.

Clustering greyness of 13 buildings is less than 0.5 and average uncertainly of clustering results is 66 per cent.

It shows that among the 38 buildings surveyed in terms of energy consumption, three cases are in standard group, 24 cases are in “low standard deviation” group and 11 buildings are completely non-standard.

In this research, a comprehensive analysis of the audit reports is proposed. This analysis helps the improvement of future audits, and assists in making energy conservation policies by studying the behaviour of system characteristic and related factors.

Energy-efficiency leads to productivity gains as it can lower operating and maintenance costs, increase production yields per unit of manufacturing input and improve staff accountability. Implementation of energy-efficient technologies amongst industries, the factors influencing them and the barriers to their adoption have been the subject of several studies during the past three to four decades. Though energy-use behaviours of individuals or households are sufficiently explored, industrial energy conservation behaviour is scarcely studied. This study identifies the relationship between the different behavioural elements to open up a door for behaviourally informed intervention research.

Total interpretive structural modelling technique was used to determine the relationship between different elements of the behaviour of energy managers. Expert responses were collected to understand the relationship between the behavioural elements, through telephone interviews.

The study identified the relationship between the behavioural elements and found imperfect evaluation as the key element with the highest driving power to influence other elements.

The authors postulate that a behaviourally informed intervention strategy that looks into the elements with high driving power such as imperfect evaluation, lack of focus on energy-saving measures and the lack of sharing energy-saving objectives can lead to: an increase in the adoption of energy efficiency measures and thereby a reduction in the energy efficiency gap; greater productivity gains and reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; Preparation of M&V protocol that incorporates behavioural, organisational and informational barriers.

Various policy level interventions and regulatory measures in the energy field which did not address the behavioural barriers are found unsuccessful in narrowing the energy-efficiency gap, reducing the GHG gas emissions and global warming. Understanding the key driving factor of behaviour can help to design an effective intervention strategy to address the barriers to energy efficiency improvement.

Understanding the key driving factor of behaviour can help to design an effective intervention strategy to address the barriers to energy efficiency improvement. This study argues that through the systematic analysis of the imperfect evaluation of energy audit recommendations, it is possible to increase the adoption of energy efficiency measures that can lead to greater productivity gains and reduced GHG emissions.

This study aims to investigate the drivers for adopting energy efficiency practices within an emerging market context.

Drawing on the shared value theoretical perspective, this study investigates the corporate strategy approaches toward energy efficiency in firms. This paper draws from a sample of 852 Kenyan firms from 14 sectors. This study’s analysis is based on an ordered probit model.

The findings indicate that companies that conduct energy audits, have environmental performance-based compensation for senior management, provide staff training on energy efficiency and have a written energy policy are more effective in energy efficiency and conservation efforts. Based on the findings, this study recommends that companies and policymakers incentivize corporate actions and strategies to promote energy efficiency. While this study’s findings offer critical insights, the authors recommend future research to make sectorial comparisons.

Studies focusing on drivers of energy efficiency are limited, and those that exist are often either qualitative or focused on large, listed firms. By investigating 852 companies in 14 sectors in Kenya, this study adds to the literature on firms’ energy efficiency management.

In the realm of energy behaviour studies, very little research has been done to understand industrial energy behaviour (IEB) that influences the willingness to adopt (WTA) energy-efficient measures. Most of the studies on energy behaviour were focused on the residential and commercial sectors where the behaviour under investigation was under volitional control, that is, where people believe that they can execute the behaviour whenever they are willing to do so. The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors influencing the industry’s intentions and behaviour that leads to enhanced adoption of energy efficiency measures recommended through energy audits. In particular, this paper aims to extend the existing behaviour intention models using the total interpretive structural modelling (TISM) method and expert feedback to develop an IEB model

TISM technique was used to determine the relationship between different elements of the behaviour. Responses were collected from experts in the field of energy efficiency to understand the relationship between identified factors, their driving power and dependency.

The results show that values, socialisation and leadership of individuals are the key driving factors in deciding the individual energy behaviour. WTA energy-saving measures recommended by an energy auditor are found to be highly dependent on the organisational policies such as energy policy, delegation of power to energy manager and life cycle cost evaluation in purchase policy.

This study has a few limitations that warrant consideration in future research. First, the data came from a small sample of energy experts based on a convenience sample of Indian experts. This limits the generalizability of the results. Individual and organizational behaviour analysed in this study looked into a few select characteristics, derived from the literature review and expert feedback, which may pose questions about the standard for behaviours in different industries.

Reasons for non-adoption of energy audit recommendations are rarely shared by the industries and the analysis of individual and organisational behaviour through structured questionnaire and surveys have serious limitations. Under this circumstance, collecting expert feedback and using the TISM method to build an IEB model can help to build strategies to enhance the adoption of energy-efficient measures.

Various policy level interventions and regulatory measures in the energy field, adopted across the globe, are found unsuccessful in narrowing the energy-efficiency gap, reducing the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and global warming. Understanding the key driving factors can help develop effective intervention strategies to improve energy efficiency and reduce GHG emissions.

The industry energy behaviour model with driving, linking and dependent factors and factor hierarchy is a novel contribution to the theory of organisational behaviour. The model takes into consideration both the individual and organisational factors where the decision-making is not strictly under volitional control. Understanding the key driving factor of behaviour can help design an effective intervention strategy that addresses the barriers to energy efficiency improvement. The results imply that it is important to carry out post energy audit studies to understand the implementation rate of recommendations and also the individual and organisational factors that influence the WTA energy-saving measures.

Purpose – This chapter examines the evolution of new audit and traceability systems in New Zealand horticultural export industries. Identified as one trajectory in New Zealand agriculture partly resulting from neoliberal reform, the arrival of audit culture in food export industries has significantly repositioned these export sectors, particularly in relation to how they might respond to new energy and climate change challenges.

Design/methodology/approach – The chapter reviews the neoliberalisation of New Zealand agriculture in the 1980s and then examines the emergence of specific industry, audit and regulatory responses to new challenges around energy and climate change. Horticultural export sectors are used to demonstrate these responses and then compared with other, more productivist-oriented sectors in New Zealand.

Findings – The argument presented at the end of this chapter is that those food export sectors that have embraced the new audit approaches rather than taking a more productivist pathway will be better positioned to cope with the shocks of new energy costs and climate change requirements.

Originality/value – This chapter demonstrates the variable outcomes of neoliberal reform in agriculture. It identifies new audit and governance technologies as both an essential contributor to understanding the nature of global food chains and a potentially important contributor to achieving greater agri-food resilience in the face of future shocks like climate change.

This paper aims to set the framework for measuring the energy performance of a manufacturing process. The availability and affordability of energy is becoming a critical parameter nowadays, affecting the whole lifecycle of the product, and hence the production phase as well. The energy efficiency of the grinding process, as a widely used manufacturing process in the industry, is assessed with regard to the selected process strategies.

To assess the grinding machine tool energy performance, a measuring framework is designed, implemented and validated. The process strategy effect on the energy consumption is experimentally assessed through energy audits of the grinding machine tool. Such energy audits provide better insights into the way subsystems composing a machine tool affect the energy consumption.

It is revealed that the proper selection of process strategy can significantly reduce the energy consumption. The amount of energy consumed for the actual process is less than the energy required for maintaining the processing environment (e.g. for the coolant pump delivering coolant fluid in the processing area). The key finding is that the measuring framework can be used for the understanding and analysis of the energy consumption of the various machine tool components. Additionally, for the grinding process itself, the energy audits indicate that reducing the processing duration can significantly reduce the overall energy.

The main novel contribution of the present paper is the development of a measurement framework for assessing the energy consumption of subsystems running simultaneously when processing a workpiece. Grinding process energy demand is analysed in detail, allowing for the first time to consider energy consumption as a manufacturing decision criterion.

The purpose of this paper is to present the efficiency of electricity use and potential of electricity reduction at 12 residential colleges located at University of Malaya Campus, Kuala Lumpur.

The work presented applies an energy audit when energy consumption data were collected and analysed for a five‐year period. The total savings of electricity used at residential colleges were identified through the difference between average total energy use in a year (kWh) and minimum electricity usage.

The study finds that residential colleges with special features of building layout and arrangement performed better with regard to electricity consumption due to the prior group's superior utilisation of day lighting and natural ventilation. The floor area of the rooms, volume, density, enclosure and facade design, including window design, window area, and window‐to‐wall ratio also influenced the total electricity usage of the residential college buildings. Also, through adaptation of the corridor area to include more natural ventilation and daylight, approximately 40 to 90 percent of average electricity usage could be conserved in a year.

The methodology is limited to energy audit for a five‐year period of metered data and walk‐through analysis.

The findings raised some issues related to thermal comfort of the residents.

The study can be used as baseline data for a tropical region particularly on current electricity usage and potential of energy conservation in residential building.

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the use of commercial‐in‐confidence arrangements within the public sector allows the deliberate manipulation of accounting figures to generate support for the privatisation agenda.

A case study is presented of an Australian power entity, United Energy, where the privatisation was subject to commercial‐in‐confidence restrictions and differing opinions as to the accuracy of the entity's financial accounts during the privatisation process. It examines many of the key “commercial‐in‐confidence” documents, which are now available through parliamentary and official document sources, together with pre‐ and post‐privatisation financial statements.

The accounting figures were shaped to support a privatisation agenda and this was obscured by the commercial‐in‐confidence provision. Some attempts were made to use accounting arrangements to reduce federal taxes but this failed. A substantial element of the reported sale price represented internal transfers between the state‐owned entity and the government with the actual price paid by the purchaser being substantially lower than the reported price. The price paid was based on the financial statements which were openly challenged by the Auditor‐General. The paper strongly supports the contention that manipulation of accounting figures occurs under commercial‐in‐confidence privatisations.

This was limited to one example at one time. Further work is needed on other settings.

The paper challenges the success claimed for the privatisation process and for the social benefits of privatisation by tender.

There was little evidence of a substantial improvement in financial performance following privatisation or that the pre‐privatisation performance was substantially boosted to support the privatisation agenda. It did show that the accounting served political ends.