One of the objectives of this research was to understand the context of the commercial building energy retrofitting industry in Australia, and to understand current opinions and practices of various key stakeholders in the area. Building on the knowledge gained from literature reviewed in Chapter 2, semi-structured interviews were undertaken with representatives from the consulting industry, academia, relevant government organisations, and building management. This mixed-methods approach was selected in part to triangulate with the quantitative database analysis and simulation studies. The limitations of data for the Australian context, discussed in Section 3.3, provided further incentive to access this knowledge source.
The use of qualitative research, which involved human participants, meant that university ethics approval was required. This was an important aspect of the design of the qualitative research, and required the preparation of a detailed research plan. The research plan was reviewed by the University of Wollongong and Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District Social Sciences Human Research Ethics Committee prior to the commencement of any research activity. The committee considered the research design, along with all documentation associated with the qualitative project, including: recruitment information, Participant Information Sheets, Consent Forms, and an example topic guide. These are included in Appendix B, as are relevant excerpts from the application for approval to undertake research involving human participants. Ethics approval was granted under the Research Services Office code HE13/443, for the research activities as described below.
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Prospective participants invited to participate in this research project were experts in the field of building energy retrofitting or building simulation, with experience in commercial building energy retrofitting. They were identified via networks established already by staff and students of the Sustainable Buildings Research Centre (SBRC). Participants were asked to participate in a semi- structured interview, in person or over the phone, with a duration between 30 and 60 minutes. Participants were asked about their understanding of the decision making process used to assess building retrofit strategies, including economic, technical, and attitudinal barriers and incentives. Building simulation users in commercial consulting companies were also asked about modelling practices and data sources. Specific questions were asked about how the respondent viewed current trends and practices, and general questions on what they see as important challenges for the industry going forward. A semi-structured approach was appropriate, as it allowed the participant to direct the interview towards areas they viewed as important, rather than the interviewer setting the agenda. After the interview, if necessary, participants were asked, via email, to clarify or provide further information about certain responses.
The interviews were semi-structured, and the topic guides developed varied slightly according to the interviewee. An example topic guide is included in Appendix B. Each interview was recorded to and transcribed. The transcriptions were reviewed against the audio to ensure accuracy, and then analysed.
The approach to the qualitative analysis was drawn from Creswell (2014), Saldaña (2009), and Waitt (2010). The analysis considered all the data to identify common issues and themes across sources. Initially, all transcriptions were read and clear or obvious themes were identified or noted in the margins. A fresh copy of the transcription was then re-read in detail, and first cycle coding was undertaken. In qualitative research, a code refers to ‘a word or short phrase that symbolically assigns a summative, salient, essence-capturing, and/or evocative attribute for a portion of … data’ (Saldaña, 2009). Coding is therefore the act of categorising and linking of data to ideas. QSR International’s NVivo 10 qualitative data analysis software package (QSR International Pty Ltd, 2012) was used to facilitate this coding process. Several coding cycles were completed, during which emergent themes were identified and further investigated. During the coding process, consideration was given to maintaining reflexivity (i.e. suspending pre-existing categories and responding to the text), and absorbing oneself in the texts. Comparison was made between responses from different professional groups, locations, and experiences. The responses were considered in relation to the relevant literature. A more detailed discussion of the considerations in
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qualitative research and analysis has been provided by others (Creswell, 2014; Galletta, 2012; Saldaña, 2009).
3.9.1 Interview Participants
An invitation to participate in the interview process was distributed to 18 identified experts, and semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 12 participants. Interviews ranged in length from 17 to 55 minutes. The interview participants and their relevant experience is summarised in Table 3-3. It was decided to use pseudonyms within the body of this manuscript so as to provide a level of anonymity to participants, despite consent having been obtained to identify the majority of participants.
3.9.2 Positionality Statement
The identification of possible biases, values and personal interests which relate to the topic of study is an important aspect of qualitative research (Creswell, 2014). It is common for the researcher to provide a ‘positionality statement’ of their personal biography and views, to acknowledge any possible influence the researcher might have in the research process. The present author offers this statement as follows.
I came to this research question with great concern about climate change and the impacts of modern society on the environment. My previous research had convinced me that building energy retrofitting, including behavioural change, was an effective method of reducing GHG emissions, and should be encouraged. I do not come from a mechanical engineering background, so was interested in the topic from a sustainability perspective rather than an engineering performance perspective; however, I believe I had a sufficient understanding of mechanical systems for the project at hand. I did not have a history of working in industry, but had an academic understanding of the building energy retrofitting industry, including key barriers and drivers, and the time and financial pressures that drive many decisions. This meant that I was particularly interested in areas in which the actual practice was different to how I understood the process academically. I did not have close relationships with any of the interviewees.
69 Table 3-3 Semi-structured interview participant details.