title: Information flow and its significance in coherently integrated policymaking for promoting energy efficiency.
abstract: Why do negative, unexpected outcomes occur in sustainable development policies? What can we learn from them? Studies have shown clearly that, to be effective, sustainable development policies must be as coherent and integrated as possible; however, policy integration should not evolve into a tool that restricts creativity and undermines the relevance of local policy initiatives. The Coherently Integrated Policymaking frameworks, based on the precept that information flow is pivotal to the success of policymaking, are proposed and then applied to design an integrated energy efficiency policy that coaddresses a set of indicators. These indicators are energy and greenhouse gas reduction, improvement of public's health, increase in material efficiency, enhancementof energy equity, provision of employment and education opportunities, improvement of workers' health, improvement of local economy, and reduction in derived costs for the business community. Our framework also provides guidance for the magnitude of change a policy should introduce at one time, guided by five distinct types of feedback loops that link the different stakeholders involved in the design, implementation, and monitoring of integrated policies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Building, School of Design & Environment, Singapore. harnwei@mit.edu
authors.forename: Harn Wei
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Kua
mesh_terms: D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D035082:Federal Government; D011050:Policy Making; D011640:Public Policy; D013219:State Government