ENRI – Decision factors for sustainable reinvestments in companies

Businesses are an important part of society. In particular, companies that reinvest profits in energy efficiency, climate protection, environmental sustainability or public welfare represent an essential component of a sustainable economy with secure jobs and a healthy environment. Organisations like these can provide critical information on energy and resource savings and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in private industry.

The aim of this project is to examine the decision-making processes in companies with regard to the use of monetary profit. To this end, the project will make use of psychological, business management and communication science research tools to analyse if and how companies make sustainable reinvestments. The process involves an empirical, multi-method approach with interviews, focus groups, case studies and a quantitative survey. One focus here is understanding how direct and indirect rebound effects arise and how investment decisions can reduce energy efficiency – and, as a result, the environmental performance of companies. Rebound effects exist when energy savings are smaller than expected after the implementation of measures to increase energy efficiency. The findings from the empirical studies and their transdisciplinary synthesis will contribute to

a) A better understanding of the relevant factors in an organisation,

b) Transferability to other companies, and

c) Achieving climate goals in the corporate sector, but also in society as a whole.