Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Green Building Industry in California

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Doctoral Dissertation ResearchThe Green Building Industry in CaliforniaPI: Joseph Galaskiewicz Co-PI: Beth M. DucklesUniversity of ArizonaThe rapidly growing green building market is changing the types of buildings organizational consumers want, the materials that builders use and the way in which architects design and think about buildings. This dissertation will examine the way in which the actors within a quickly shifting market promote, attack, implement or alter the ideals of sustainability and environmentalism in the face of established rules, norms, and traditions, i.e., institutions. We will examine the mechanisms by which the ideology of a movement becomes integrated into the marketplace. This work will meet at the intersection of three literatures: social movements, organizational change and economic sociology to address the emergence of an embedded market, gain an understanding of the institutional shifts as a social movement outcome and discuss the relationship between the profit motive and the motive for organizations to be socially and environmentally responsible. To accomplish this, we propose to study how the environmental ideals are commensurated as new institutional standards emerge through the creation of the LEED building certification system, created by the US Green Building Council. The study will focus on LEED certified buildings in the state of California and in three phases gather data on builders and architects, organizational consumers and suppliers. Methods include participant observation, targeted interviews, and the gathering of document data on green buildings. Analysis will be conducted using a unique blend of narrative and process analysis. The broader impact of this study will address the growth and creation of markets, particularly in response to ideological origins and will have implications for the way in which social movement ideology becomes institutionalized. Green building is also a case that addresses the emergence of socially responsible and ecologically responsive organizations.