The dynamics of innovation influents: contracts and sustainable energy innovation uptake

Despite a growing interest, sustainable energy innovations encounter difficulties in attaining market success. This paper investigates the role of contracts, a hitherto understudied innovation influent, in generating more conducive conditions for sustainable energy innovations in building projects. With the help of two case studies we identify three dynamics evoked by specific types of building contracts with sustainability focus: the dynamics of thinking beyond the habitual, the dynamics of reverse calculation, and the dynamics of countability. These dynamics change the prevailing level of ambition of the project and the ways in which the benefits and costs are calculated and thereby create a strong entanglement of the sustainable energy innovation and the design project. Furthermore, the dynamics lead to favouring of uptake of existing innovations rather than generating completely novel solutions. The article concludes with a discussion about the possibilities of policy intervention for innovation supportive dynamics in construction projects.