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This paper aims at justifying the significance of investment in the improvement of labour productivity (LP) and importance of the latter on economic performance of companies manufacturing wind energy components (WEC) in Lithuania in terms of value added (VA) created, profitability and wage earned. The time period covered is 2000–2020. The following methods have been employed: analysis of legal acts, programmes, strategies, and business structure and finance indicators, interdependence (correlation and regression), trend, case analysis, logical economical reasoning and graphical representation. The research results of current status analysis showed that the business of WEC manufacturing is small in regard to their variety of products but increasing in terms of VA and employment in Lithuania. Investment has been found as a driver of improvement in LP. The calculated historical ratio of change in LP to investment showed that, on average, after 1000 EUR per employee has been invested in tangible assets (TA), the LP increased by 0.13 EUR/h. A higher than average ratio was found in the manufacture of other transport and repair and installation of machinery and equipment (1.41), such as rubber, plastic and other non-metallic mineral products (0.17), but lower in the manufacture of electronic and communication (0.12) and metal (0.06) products. Taking into account the linear curves of LP to investment in TA curve and the average volumes of investment in different manufacturing activities, it is estimated that LP could grow by 5.3% a year in the manufacture of electronic products, and communication equipment are expected to increase by two-fold to 33 EUR/h in 2030, but it could grow only by 2.0% a year in the manufacture of rubber, plastic and other non-metallic mineral products to reach 28 EUR/h in 2030. Due to investment related changes in LP, the VA created by WEC companies could increase by 5.9% a year and account to 2.9 billion EUR during 2021–2030. Net profitability and real wages (and salaries) could also increase in future. Seeking to use the potential of companies to manufacture WEC for domestic wind installations and exports, investment supporting programmes are of high importance in the fields of promotion of innovations, development of human capital and adaptation of new technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the critical amount of power consumption in public buildings, sustainable energy use in the workplace can present an opportunity to tackle the worldwide problem of climate change. A systematic literature review revealed that, though the majority of scientific papers emphasize the importance of appliances and new technologies, human behavior in this area is not less significant. It can contribute to the reduction of energy use and CO2 emissions and address a number of environmental issues. The main purpose of this work is to analyze and compare the research performed on the topic of the determinants of sustainable energy consumption and investigate their impacts on the behavior of employees in three public buildings in Greece. The questionnaire survey discloses that, despite the organizations paying the bill, the employees believe that saving energy at work is important. The results also show that female employees feel more responsible for energy problems, such as the exhaustion of energy sources or global warming. Finally, a regression analysis affirms that the willingness to save a substantial amount of energy at the workplace is greater when employees have higher personal norms, that is, they feel morally obliged to consider the environment and nature in their daily behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For this paper, the authors theoretically analyzed the determinants of energy saving and sustainable energy consumption in schools. Much research exists on energy-saving behavior in residential buildings. However, there is a lack of focus on public buildings and schools. A systematic literature review was conducted in order to construct the theoretical background for the research of school buildings, which are substantially less investigated. The determinants of sustainable energy use in schools were grouped together into three groups: (i) psychological and social, (ii) sociodemographic and economic, and (iii) contextual. The influence of these determinants on energy consumption was investigated empirically by conducting a questionnaire survey in a vocational school in Greece. The results reveal that the intention to save a substantial amount of energy in a vocational school in Greece is greater when students feel morally obliged to consider the environment and nature, believe that it is in their power to avoid unnecessary power consumption, and are positively influenced by teachers, classmates, and other important people in their lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]