Factors Causing Gap In Energy Efficiency In Non-Domestic Buildings In UAE: A Quantitative Study

Research Methods and Processes

This study evaluates different options in terms of research methods and processes to identify the most suitable one for this study. As the topic concerns with the factors causing gap in energy efficiency in the nondomestic buildings in the United Arab Emirates, both socio-cultural and strategic design factors need to be evaluated to identify the problem and suggest the solution. Therefore, survey along with experiment would be used for investigating the issue. This study proposes a research plan to find the causes as well as solutions to the identified issue of gap in energy efficiency in the Green Built (DM certified) building in UAE.

This research aims to identify the factors that affect the level of energy efficiency in the nondomestic buildings in the United Arab Emirates causing a significant gap between the energy spent and the performance achieved through the consumption of the energy. It is an applied social psychology research (Thibaut, 2017). It aims to acquire understanding of the (i) habits of the users of nondomestic buildings affecting their energy efficiency, (ii) technological gaps contributing to performance gap and (iii) design ideas and strategies that could be recommended to minimize the gap. To acquire desired knowledge and solution quantitative approach has been chosen for the study as it would avail numerical result that would quantify the variables, which would be useful in understanding correlation between them (Bernard, 2017). While a qualitative study would have ensured rich and in-depth understanding of the determinants of individual behaviour and their consequences it could not provide a quantifiable relationship between the independent and the dependent variables (Brannen, 2017).

Along with the survey of the samples representative of the agents of the companies responsible for the energy consumption pattern and the consumers of the nondomestic buildings, an experiment would also be conducted to evaluate the potential recommendations identified through the analysis of the survey responses and theoretical knowledge (Greenfield and Greener, 2016). While result of the survey would help in providing a generalizable understanding of the issue result it is also a preferred research option due to its wide applicability and low cost. Closed-ended multiple choice questions targeted to investigate the effect of each independent variables such as consumption behaviour, strategic design, technology and monitoring system on energy efficiency of the nondomestic buildings of the UAE would help in verifying or refuting the theories studied in the secondary literature. Studies have claimed that user-centered tactics to modify the occupant’s behaviour might help in solving the issue of energy efficiency (Lin, Afshari and Azar, 2018). This theory might be verified and further developed through the research. On the other hand, experiment in form of the computer simulation modeling would help in assessing the tactics that could come out as the potential solution as a result of the survey analysis. Hence this is a quantitative study that aims to use experimental measures to investigate the factors affecting energy efficiency and provide substantial solutions to the issues identified.

Study Proposal and Objectives

This research would utilize measures such as survey and experiment to a) find a cultural understanding of the manner in which the occupants behave and how they can adapt to better strategic practices that could leverage energy efficiency without triggering the consequences like the performance gap, and b) adopt tactics to present comprehensible outcome in form of building performance through computer simulation modeling. To elucidate the effectiveness of the proposed research methods in achievement of research objectives, the objectives are linked with the proposed methods in the following manner:

1. To identify the social and cultural habits of building users

• Behavioral outcomes of the consumers would be measured through the responses acquired through survey

1. To determine how the robotic and technological strategies, used in the buildings, affect energy efficiency

• Responses of the functional and executive designenrs of the companies would be used to quantify the relation between technology and energy efficiency

1. To establish a framework of determined social and cultural habits, of users, for technological strategies in nondomestic buildings

• Consequences of cultural determinant on the energy consumption of the occupants would be identified through the responses of the occupants and verified through the responses of the functional and executive designers

1. Based on the findings as per above plan, potential solutions would be identified
2. The identified solutions would be evaluated through computer simulation modeling experiment and most potent solution recognised through the experiment would be recommended to minimize the energy efficiency gap. 

A cross-sectional survey design would be used for this study as it would allow the research to assess information collected from a range of respondents in a particular time (Nardi, 2018). Though, unlike the longitudinal survey it cannot record the change in behaviour or experience of the respondents concerning a research variable it is more effective in establishing relationship between the variables in a given time (Caruana et al. 2015).  This research aims to understand the determinants of energy efficiency gap in UAE from two different perspectives. Therefore, questionnaire would be distributed among two primary groups. 150 functional and executive designers in 100 companies that deal with development and maintenance of DM-certified buildings in Dubai would be selected randomly through probability sampling method to understand the effect of technology and design strategies on the energy efficiency of nondomestic buildings in the UAE. On the other hand, 150 nondomestic occupants of Green Built certified buildings in Dubai would also be selected randomly through the probability sampling method to acquire an understanding of the cultural and contextual aspects that determine consumption behaviour of the occupants of such buildings in in the UAE (Etikan, Musa and Alkassim, 2016).

Probability sampling method that utilizes the random sample selection method ensures that each member of a population subset has the probability of being chosen for the survey which provides better chances of representation of a larger population group, which is essential for acquiring a generalizable result (Tillé and Wilhelm, 2017). The following survey stages might be followed to reduce the coverage and error inn sampling:

1. Identification of a nondomestic, commercial area in Dubai that is frequented by UAE residents
2. Classifying the buildings of the area in terms of operations and energy usage in 3 categories
3. Randomly selecting companies (total 100) from each category using computerized methods
4. Randomly choosing functional and executive designers along with nondomestic occupants, 50 from each category through probabilistic method

Table 1: Classification criteria for survey

(Source: Created by student)

The survey questionnaire would contain close ended multiple choice questions (Brace, 2018). The questions would feature dichotomous scale, Likert’s five point scale; three point scale and semantic differential scale (Harpe, 2015 and Takahashi, Ban and Asada, 2016) (refer to appendix 1 and 2).

Quantitative Approach for the Study

As explained in the previous sections, the research incorporates both correlational as well as experimental methods of research to serve two different purposes. Using the correlational methods the research variables are observed in the target environment that is in the Green Built certified, nondomestic buildings in UAE, which allowed a detailed understanding of the manner in which factors like technology, design strategy and behaviour of the occupants of the buildings (Walliman, 2015). Here use of the correlation method to acquire information from the 150 functional and executive designers and 150 occupants would help in cross-sectional investigation and evaluation of the variables. On the other hand, to investigate the credibility of the solutions identified experimental measures would be taken in form of computer simulation modeling. The experimental method would help in controlling the variables that would be helpful in assessing the effect of the dependent variables on energy efficiency of the building beyond the examples available in the real environment (Patten and Newhart, 2017).

The field measurement will assess the energy requirement as per the respondents and then tally it with the actual consumption history of the individuals. It would also evaluate the energy efficiency gap based on the different energy consumption practices of the occupants of the nondomestic buildings. The measurement of the period of the survey would span for two weeks in summer and which is expected to be reasonable as the survey questionnaire would be sent to the target participants through online channels like e-mail and social media sites. As the entire survey is expected to take less than 15 minutes to complete therefore the respondents are expected to respond within the span of 2 weeks with their responses.

The energy efficiency index (EEI) is one of the most advocated measures to evaluate the energy consumption of a building that brings several variables like occupancy, HVAC system of the building, operations within the building and so on (Bakar et al. 2015). EUI on the other hand is recognized as the least useful information to evaluate the energy efficiency of a building as without the consideration of variables the gap of energy performance cannot be determined (Fairey and Goldstein, 2016). The survey, as it would tally the expected consumption with the record might be effective in providing a better insight to the energy efficiency gap.

The study would incorporate both survey and experiment. While the former would be used to assess the cause of gap in energy efficiency in the nondomestic, Green Built (DM-Certified) buildings in the UAE and provide strategic solution to minimize the gap; the latter would assess the recommended solutions in a simulated environment of computer modeling. Information on the energy consumption of the 100 buildings could be gathered from the performance and executive designers of the buildings. In addition, the data acquired from both the designers and the occupants could be arranged in systematic form of tables for statistical analysis for frequency calculation and trend assessment (Quinlan et al. 2019). Findings of the statistical analysis would be tallied with the theories studied during the literature review. For instance, the idea of gap between the theoretical and actual energy saving propelled by Khoury, Alameddine and Hollmuller (2017) can be verified through the response acquired during the survey.

Experimental and Correlational Methods

This research aims to unveil the cause behind the factors that contribute to the performance gap of energy efficiency in the nondomestic buildings in UAE. Factors such as the consumption behavior of the occupants, the lack of technologically advanced design, strategy and measures are identified through the secondary literature. The literature also identifies that development of a user-centered programmed to leverage on the occupants’ cultured understanding and behavior might help in reducing the performance gap of energy sufficiency, however, very little can be found on the applicability of this measure. This issue might be addressed through the amalgamation of questionnaire survey and experiment as discussed above. The survey would cover 150 functional and executive designers in 100 companies and 150 occupants of the Green Built certified buildings in Dubai, while the experiment would be performed in form of computer simulated modeling. Use of the probability sampling method would ensure generalizability of the survey result to ensure representative value of the selected sample.

1. First phase: Definition and research design
2. Development of theoretical concept
   • Literature review
   • Identification of research issue, question and methods
   • Identification of energy efficiency gaps in UAE nondomestic buildings

1. Design research methods

• Survey protocol
• Field measurements procedure
• Inquiring technological and cultural practices of nondomestic residents

1. Second Phase: Data acquisition and evaluation
2. Conducting survey
3. Questionnaire development and distribution

iii. Data acquisition

1. Data entry, arrangement and analysis
2. Identification of gaps
3. Proposing and evaluating potential solutions

vii. Narrowing down to suitable solutions

viii. Computer simulation modeling of chosen solution

1. Assessing probable result of recommendation
2. Third Phase: Analysis and conclusion

• Findings, presentation and discussion
• Deriving conclusion
• Providing recommendations

Table 2: Research phases

(Source: Created by student)

Table 3: Research timeline

(Source: Created by student)

To ensure that the research is completed meeting the ethical guideline of educational research as per the institutional ethical review board, attainment of ethical approval document would be required. To ensure the rights of the participants, formal consent would be acquired from the participants through a consent form (refer to appendix 3). In addition, regulations concerning data confidentiality and privacy of the participants would be followed to avoid any ethical misconduct (BERA, 2011). Participants would be informed of the research and its purpose in advance and they would be provided option to withdraw their contribution from the study at any stage of the survey. Anonymity of the participants would be maintained for privacy purposes. Respect would be paid to the socio-cultural aspects of the participant from the UAE and the individual preference and choices of the respondents would be respected.

One of the primary limitation of the research that is expected to be faced is that of the small sample size. In addition, due to the limitation of the funds and accessibility issue the research area would have to be limited to certain parts of Dubai which might not completely reflect the practices and trends of the entire UAE, limiting the applicability of the research findings. Due to lack of resources all the other locations of the UAE would be left uninvestigated. Due to the lack of time and resources the main focus of the research would be the user-centered tactics and their potential in enhancing energy efficiency while topics like the heuristic uncertainties would not be covered as they require detailed qualitative assessment (Van Dronkelaar et al. 2016). In addition, contextual factors like demographics of the users and their effect on their consumption behavior would not be assessed. Finally, availability of larger time span could allow longitudinal study unveiling the changing trends in energy efficiency and its gaps.

Survey Design and Data Collection

References 

Bakar, N.N.A., Hassan, M.Y., Abdullah, H., Rahman, H.A., Abdullah, M.P., Hussin, F. and Bandi, M., (2015). Energy efficiency index as an indicator for measuring building energy performance: A review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 44, pp.1-11.

BERA (2011) ETHICAL GUIDELINES FOR EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH [Online] available from: www.bbk.ac.uk/sshp/research/sshp-ethics-committee-and-procedures/BERA-Ethical-Guidelines-2011.pdf [Accessed 20 March 2019]

Bernard, H.R., (2017). Research methods in anthropology: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. 6^th ed. London: Rowman & Littlefield.

Brace, I., (2018). Questionnaire design: How to plan, structure and write survey material for effective market research. 4^th ed. London: Kogan Page Publishers.

Brannen, J., (2017). Mixing methods: Qualitative and quantitative research. London: Routledge.

Caruana, E.J., Roman, M., Hernández-Sánchez, J. and Solli, P., (2015). Longitudinal studies. Journal of thoracic disease, 7(11), p.E537-E540.

Etikan, I., Musa, S.A. and Alkassim, R.S., (2016). Comparison of convenience sampling and purposive sampling. American journal of theoretical and applied statistics, 5(1), pp.1-4.

Fairey, P. and Goldstein, D. B., (2016). Metrics for Energy Efficient Buildings: How Do We Measure Efficiency? ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings, 1, pp. 1-12

Greenfield, T. and Greener, S. eds., (2016). Research methods for postgraduates. 3^rd ed. John West Sussex: Wiley & Sons.

Harpe, S.E., (2015). How to analyze Likert and other rating scale data, Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning, 7(6), pp.836-850.

Khoury, J., Alameddine, Z. and Hollmuller, P., (2017). Understanding and bridging the energy performance gap in building retrofit. Energy Procedia, 122, pp.217-222.

Lin, M., Afshari, A. and Azar, E., (2018). A data-driven analysis of building energy use with emphasis on operation and maintenance: A case study from the UAE. Journal of Cleaner Production, 192, pp.169-178.

Nardi, P.M., (2018). Doing survey research: A guide to quantitative methods. 4^th ed. New York: Routledge.

Patten, M.L. and Newhart, M., (2017). Understanding research methods: An overview of the essentials. 10^th ed. New York: Routledge.

Quinlan, C., Babin, B., Carr, J. and Griffin, M., (2019). Business research methods. 2^nd ed. UK: South Western Cengage.

Takahashi, H., Ban, M. and Asada, M., (2016). Semantic differential scale method can reveal multi-dimensional aspects of mind perception. Frontiers in psychology, 7, p.1717.

Thibaut, J.W., (2017). The social psychology of groups. New York: Routledge.

Tillé, Y. and Wilhelm, M., (2017). Probability sampling designs: principles for choice of design and balancing. Statistical Science, 32(2), pp.176-189.

Van Dronkelaar, C., Dowson, M., Burman, E., Spataru, C. and Mumovic, D., (2016). A review of the energy performance gap and its underlying causes in nondomestic buildings. Frontiers in Mechanical Engineering, 1, p.17.

Walliman, N., (2015). Social research methods: The essentials. 2^nd ed. London: Sage.

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